The lore surrounding Hoboes, Vagabonds, Drifters, Rogues, Tramps and Striders excite in us a passion seemingly unmatched by other American itinerants (I’m looking at you, BIRDS). Few are quite as interesting, confusing, and regional as The Leatherman, who kept a precise circuit in the Hudson River area between 1856 to 1889.
The Late American Novel at McNally Jackson
Tonight at 7 PM at McNally Jackson Bookstore C. Max Magee, one of the editors of the excellent The Late American Novel, and a few fine folks who contributed to the book, including The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet author Reif Larson, will be discussing the future of the novel. I will be there, taking […]
Hafez, arguably Iran’s most important poet, has had his works illustrated by Jila Peacock in the grand tradition of Islamic calligraphy.
Wonderful Things Dept: Better Book Titles
Burrowing from depressing news, I’ve been spending less time on the websites for the New York Times and CNN and the BBC, but not less time on the internet. And, while I’ve found some gems over the past week or so, Better Book Titles towers above the rest.
The first sentence of David Foster Wallace’s soon-to-be-published posthumous novel The Pale King is cropping up all over the internet. If you don’t want the first sentence of a 560 page book ruined (the novel consists of roughly, 559 additional sentences [ed. note: just kidding!]) avert your browser.
The Tournament of Books: First Blood & Week Two
The Morning News’ annual Tournament of Books enters its second week today as Andrew Womack debates the merits of Anne Carson’s Nox and Jaimy Gordon’s National Book Award winning Lord of Misrule (a beguiling favorite of mine from 2010).
The Shubert Sunday Night Roundup
This may be very anti-climactic, but here are some pieces I got a kick out of this week.
Two excellent essays on the Kafka trials and the re-release of Elizabeth Bishop’s complete works.
Although it is somehow not dominating the news cycle, there is a battle of epic proportions raging! The contested treasures are the manuscripts of Franz Kafka–yes, the very ones that he asked his buddy Max Brod to burn after his death. Dude clearly knew what was coming. These manuscripts are hot shit. Among the clambering […]
Events: Gary Shteyngart and Victor Lavalle Read at the 92nd St. Y
Despite spending roughly 80% of my waking hours reading books or writing about them, I don’t attend very many readings — or at least not as many as I should. On Monday evening Reviews Editor Max and I attended a reading by two friends of Full Stop, Gary Shteyngart (FS Interview here) and Victor Lavalle (FS […]