This morning, Amazon unveiled its second annual list of the Most Well-Read Cities in America — at least if we’re taking “well-read” to mean “buys a lot of stuff from Amazon,” that is. According to the press release, ”the ranking was determined by compiling sales data of all book, magazine and newspaper sales in both print and Kindle format since June 1, 2011, on a per capita basis in cities with more than 100,000 residents.” So, that’s a rather loose definition of “well-read,” but we’re not going to judge. Some fun facts from the release: Berkeley residents ordered the most travel books, those healthy exercisers in Boulder bought the most books in the Health, Fitness & Dieting category, Cambridge kids cleaned out the Business & Investing category, and Alexandria, which topped the entire list, did so by ordering tons of romance novels. No word on which city ordered the most literary fiction, memoirs or nonfiction, though. Any guesses? Click through to see where your city stands on Amazon’s Most Well-Read Cities in America list, and let us know what you think in the comments.
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Recently, The Rumpus dug up a great article from a 1998 edition of the LA Times, wherein Saul Bellow describes living with Ralph Ellison in a grand old house in upstate New York. Inspired by this pairing, we decided to poke around to try and find out which other famous writers have lived together, whether before they became famous, while scribbling away, or as established authors living the high life. Just to be clear — we’re not counting famous literary couples (or at least not constant ones, anyway). That’d just be too easy. Click through to read about a few literary greats who split the rent, and you might start looking at that aspiring novelist roommate of yours in a whole new light.
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If you’ve ever wondered what your favorite literary characters might be listening to while they save the world/contemplate existence/get into trouble, or hallucinated a soundtrack to go along with your favorite novels, well, us too. But wonder no more! Here, we sneak a look at the hypothetical iPods of some of literature’s most interesting characters. What would be on the personal playlists of Holden Caulfield or Elizabeth Bennett, Huck Finn or Harry Potter, Tintin or Humbert Humbert? Something revealing, we bet. Or at least something danceable. Read on for a cozy reading soundtrack, character study, or yet another way to emulate your favorite literary hero. This week: D.H. Lawrence’s most controversial heroine, the lovely Lady Chatterley.
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We stumbled across a rather interesting online test this morning — it’s a measure of how quickly you read, and how this compares the US national average. You probably won’t be surprised to know that, as avid book geeks and voracious readers, Flavorpill reads pretty fast — although we still only manage about 10% the pace of the world speed-reading champion, one Anne Jones (pictured), who can apparently chew through a remarkable 4,700 words a minute. She apparently read the final Harry Potter book in 47 minutes on its release, later reviewing it for UK newspaper The Independent (who presumably scooped everyone else as far as getting their review out first went.) Anyway, take the test after the jump, and let us know how you fared!
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Every year, we hear about the hugely depressing spectacle of books being challenged and removed from American libraries and schools because someone out there objects to their content (usually on the grounds of depictions of people enjoying themselves in bed.) This week it was hugely successful erotic novel 50 Shades of Grey, which has been removed from the shelves of libraries in parts of Florida for its depictions of, y’know, people having sex. Absurd as the whole situation is, it did get us thinking about some books that are far more deserving of being removed from library shelves than EL James’s sexual exploits. Obligatory disclaimer: we’re of course not in the market for banning any books, but we’d much prefer to find the kiddies reading 50 Shades of Grey than any of this lot.
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If you have ever attended a Moth event (or tuned into their Radio Hour), and found yourself fantasizing about getting up on the lone stage and telling one great story, then check out our recent interview with the organization’s founder George Dawes Green, in which he lends his personal advice on great raconteuring. Who knows, you could be their next StorySLAM champion. For other exclusive celebrity interviews on the art of storytelling (including Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Mike Birbiglia, and Matt Bomer) from the 2012 Moth Ball honoring Martin Scorsese, see our slideshow re-cap.
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Every writer, no matter how serious, needs to let off a little steam now and then. Those oh-so-important mental health days might be filled with hobbies (from baking to beekeeping) or drinking (every writer’s default hobby), or just plain goofing around with friends. Luckily for us, some of these author’s kookiest, most candid moments have been captured on film, so we can all feel a little closer to our favorite literary heroes. Click through to check out our gallery of refreshingly silly photos of famous writers, and if you’ve seen a photo we haven’t, share the wealth and link to it in the comments!
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In an important development for scholars and Joyce-enthusiasts everywhere, the Irish National Library has recently made many of its rare James Joyce manuscripts available online. Previously, Joyce’s manuscripts were closely guarded, with use heavily restricted (or made very expensive) by Joyce’s grandson, but as you may know, on January 1st of this year, many of his works moved into the public domain. The manuscripts now available on the Irish National Library’s website include corrected page proofs of Finnegan’s Wake, early notes and drafts for Ulysses and beyond, and one of Joyce’s all-purpose notebooks, full of reading lists, musings, accountings, and passages from his favorite books and poems. All the material is currently available in PDF format only, but the library has promised that higher resolution images are forthcoming — on Bloomsday, of course. [via Jacket Copy]
Like everyone else you know, we’ve been grieving over the loss of legendary children’s book author Maurice Sendak all week. But our sadness was momentarily lifted when Stephen Colbert aired a few extra outtakes from his outstanding interview with Sendak, which we originally fell in love with back in January. The outtakes are just as hilarious as the sections that made it onto the original program, but they’re also incredibly touching, showing Sendak’s less crotchety, more grandfatherly side. ”I think childhood is a period of great torment,” Sendak says. “We learn all these things — what is and what isn’t, what you can do and what you cannot do, and it’s hard, it’s really very hard.” He goes on to say that the best thing a parent can do for a child is “love him or her… take them for what they are.” Indeed. Yet again, Mr. Sendak, you are dearly missed.
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Mother’s Day is this Sunday, and everyone should be thinking of ways to make the lady that gave birth to them smile. We’ve already given you a heads up on some last-minute Mother’s Day gifts that don’t suck, but if what your Mommy dearest really craves is a good book, well, we’ve got you covered there as well. We’ve limited ourselves to recommending books that have come out since last Mother’s Day (since we’re sure last year you picked the perfect book), so click through to see our picks of what books to give every kind of mom this weekend. And we know, we know — your mom probably fits into a number of these categories. Looks like you’ll just have to pick her up a whole pile of books, then. She’s worth it.
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