Today marks Sylvia Plath’s birthday, and though it may seem strange to celebrate the birth of a famous author by considering her death, we think it appropriate. Plath’s lifelong depression and suicidal tendencies inarguably informed her work, and as such were part of what makes her writing so compelling, and morbid as it may be, part of what has made her an essential part of the American canon. With that in mind, we have collected some of the most famous author suicides in history, from the mundane to the strange, for your contemplation. Unfortunately, there are all too many authors who have taken this route, a trend that many have remarked upon over the years. Though we by no means mean to romanticize suicide, which is often the product of a long term struggle with depression, it can’t be denied that the deaths of these figures are part of their legacy and have worked their way into our understanding of their work and their lives. Click through to see our list of the most famous author suicides, and raise a glass tonight to Sylvia Plath.
This week Bruce Robinson’s adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s novel The Rum Diary opens across the country. Based on an early novel by the good doctor of gonzo journalism, the role of Thompson’s stand-in, journalist “Paul Kemp,” is being played by Johnny Depp — who has, with this film, pretty much planted is flag for good on the island of “cinematic portrayals of Hunter S. Thompson.” After the jump, we’ll take a closer look at Depp’s ongoing onscreen personification of the late Thompson, and nine more actors who became the cinematic avatars for distinctive writers and filmmakers.
Welcome to “Trailer Park,” our regular Friday feature where we collect the week’s new trailers all in one place and do a little “judging a book by its cover,” ranking them from worst to best and taking our best guess at what they may be hiding. This week, we’ve got an even dozen trailers for you, and most are for the kind of prestige pictures that the end of the summer movie season usually has us salivating for. Not to worry, though, fans of things that are awful: there’s also a new Ghost Rider. Check ‘em all out after the jump.
Just about everyone who’s worked as a writer knows what your standard rejection letter (or e-mail) looks like: The editor is so thankful for your pitch or story or whatever but regrets to inform you that she just doesn’t have space to include all the excellent submissions she receives. Of course, Hunter S. Thompson never does anything the standard way, so it’s not surprising that he responded so much more colorfully to a potential Rolling Stone piece by Mike Peterson that was forwarded to him in 1971. It begins, “You worthless, acid-sucking piece of illiterate shit!” and just gets better from there. See the original, typewritten note — on Rolling Stone stationery! — after the jump.
We don’t know about you, but now that it’s officially summertime, we want to spend as much time in our bathing suits as humanly possible, and so, it seems, did many of our favorite writers. After all, even the moodiest of authors needs a little sunshine now and again to chase the pain away. Whether that works or not is a whole other story. Click through for our gallery of literary greats in their bathing suits, but be warned — they’re not all pin-up shots. Sure, Sylvia and Anne are bathing beauties in addition to being quality wordsmiths, but old Ernest looks decidedly doughy around the edges. Oh well, he had other talents. All we wonder is, what were they reading on the beach?
British artist Ralph Steadman’s iconic and extensive collaborative works with Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson kindled armies of fanboys/girls across the globe and across decades. If there are any dog lovers among them, they’ll want to peek at Steadman’s newest Book of Dogs, featuring lovable, slobbering, rough-housing canines rendered in the artist’s signature style, that is, expressively unlatching their jaws amidst wildly spewed inkblots and such.
Steadman’s illustration compliment ranting pet ownership tips on feeding, fetching, and emergency resuscitation and offer some satirically anthropomorphic perspectives on religion and politics. Preview a few pups in our gallery, and, as a bonus, enjoy Ralph Steadman’s latest Gonzo-fied beer bottle label art with the Flying Dog Brewery, dubbed Raging Bitch and banned by the Michigan Liquor Commission.
About a year ago, local comedy troupe Serious Lunch had a problem on their hands. Working on a TV pilot, they needed to approximate a room covered in movie posters, so they grabbed some magic markers and got to work recreating some of their favorites. They liked the result and kept on going. Eventually, they decided to turn it into a project, the result of which is the playful, nostalgia-inducing show Poster Party! which opened last night at Habitat in Greenpoint. “Markers make things look childish and goofy,” Tim Bierbaum, the lead artist in the show, told FreeWilliamsburg, “which is a cool lens to see these things through. Translating the movie posters from photo to magic marker is sort of like recognizing how well designed they are.” Each poster is also for sale, at $35 a pop. Just goes to show that you too can turn your nostalgia into an art show, and maybe even some cash. Click through to check out some of our favorite pieces from the show, and see even more at the Poster Party!Tumblr.
There is no such thing as a boring Keith Richards interview. He tells rambling, inappropriate stories, indiscriminately insults other famous people (often including Mick Jagger), and just generally impresses all of us by the sheer feat of having remained alive all these years, after all those drugs. And while he often seems to terrify his interviewer, Richards met his match in 1993 when — after what appear to have been numerous, drawn-out, and hilarious negotiations — he sat down with Hunter S. Thompson.
The conversation is just as incomprehensible and free-associative as you might imagine. In his preface, Thompson exhorts us that he and Keef have a sense of history and we, the viewers, do not. The pair discuss the afterlife and reincarnation; Thompson asks what J. Edgar Hoover might be reborn as, and Richards suggests “a fart.” About The Rolling Stones’ origins, Richards admits, “There would have been no Stones without The Beatles,” explaining that “they already looked bizarre.” Watch the entire interview, which also includes Richards’ recollections of the Stones’ tragic 1969 Altamont performance, after the jump.
Let’s face it: nothing instantly ups your cool quota better than a set of killer sunglasses. There’s just something so mysterious and, well, bad-ass about a great pair of sunglasses, and perhaps that’s why so many celebrities rock them 24/7 and so many set designers push them as the essential cool-kid movie props. As far as, you know, shielding your eyes from the sun? Well, that’s obviously an afterthought. They come in a million different shapes and sizes, but some sunglasses — and the celebrities and characters who popularized them — are iconic artifacts of our collective culture. Click through to see our countdown of the 10 most iconic sunglasses of all time, and don’t forget to let us know what we’ve missed.
