Recent Articles
April 1, 2009
More Celebrity Fiction on the Way 3
by Garth Risk Hallberg
The current issue of McSweeney’s includes a short story by Michael Cera, whose contributor’s bio informs us that he was “born in Brampton, Ontario and now lives in Los Angeles,” and, inevitably, that “This is his first published story.” Yes, this becomingly modest debut author is that Michael Cera, co-star of Arrested Development and Superbad [...]
March 31, 2009
Bold Prediction: A Mercy Wins the Pulitzer 0
by C. Max Magee
By now you’ve read the result, Toni Morrison’s A Mercy edged out Tom Piazza’s City of Refuge to win The Tournament of Books. Now, if I were a betting man, and it were possible to bet on the Pulitzer winner, I’d bet on A Mercy. Why? The Tournament of Books has called the Pulitzer winner [...]
March 31, 2009
And the Winner Is… 0
by C. Max Magee
The final judgments are in and The Tournament of Books winner has been crowned. It was a close match, 11-6, and my vote ended up going to the winner. Go check it out. (And read both of these books, they’re great.)
March 30, 2009
Inter Alia #17: N1BR, Blazing Saddles, and the Art of Fashionable Lateness 3
by Garth Risk Hallberg
A prize-winning journalist once told me this story: Early in his career, writing on spec for The Village Voice or some such organ of the alternative press, he had ventured to the set of Blazing Saddles to interview Mel Brooks. Flush with the wine of self-importance, he flourished his press pass for the security guard [...]
March 30, 2009
Modern Library Revue: #12 The Way of All Flesh 1
by Lydia Kiesling
An irreverent, ongoing treatment of the Modern Library’s 100 best novels of the twentieth century. Samuel Butler’s The Way of All Flesh satisfies the letter of the Modern Library’s list – “best novels of the twentieth century” – but seems to violate its spirit. The novel was published in 1903, but written entirely in the [...]
March 29, 2009
God Save the Kings! 1
by Emily Colette Wilkinson
For fans of Deadwood, the mere name Ian McShane might be enough to tempt you to watch Kings, NBC’s new midseason drama (Sundays 8pm Eastern). But that’s hardly where the attractions end. The show is visually stylish, reminiscent of the 90s Ethan Hawke Hamlet and of Julie Taymor’s Titus Andronicus in that it offers a [...]