In response to Russ Marshalek’s excellent post on devastatingly sad books last week, we’ve decided to try and lift your spirits a little during this rainy week by suggesting books that are great escapes from the incessant grind of daily existence.
Last year, Wayne Gooderham wrote a thoughtful piece in the Guardian about emerging from the fog of depression by reading Saul Bellow’s 1964 epistolary tale of Moses E. Herzog — a brilliant but broken intellectual who is constantly writing letters, many which are never sent. Gooderham writes that Bellow renders “a potentially bleak topic in such a poignant and gently humorous way” in Herzog, which is the mark of a very good book. Since we’ve always been suckers for a love story, many of the selections on our list involve affairs of the heart, although we are also inspired by political nonfiction and comedy when they are done well. As always, we realize that any list made will be contentious, so please feel free to suggest alternatives in the comments section below.
Read More »
Can authors write for both kids and adults? The Guardian doesn’t seem to think so, but with this list we beg to differ. Sure, there’s some crossover in genre — as we all know, a lot of adults love Harry Potter with all the strength in their muggle bodies — but the books we’ve picked were written expressly for children, regardless of whether or not grown ups like them too, and written by authors who are primarily famous for their adult literature. You may be surprised by who has made the foray into kiddie lit — it turns out that some of the most serious authors we can think of have a warm, nougat center full of laughter and sunshine. Or something like that. Click through to see our list of children’s book written by famous “adult” authors and let us know which of your favorites we’ve missed in the comments!
Read More »
In the late 1920s, newspaper columnist, reporter, playwright, and Algonquin wit Herman J. Mankiewicz moved from New York, the hotbed of American literary activity, to Hollywood. A few months later, he sent this cable to his writer friend Ben Hecht: “Millions are to be grabbed out here and your only competition is idiots. Don’t let this get around.” Sooner or later, though, it did. Since their inception, the moving pictures have offered scribes the opportunity for comparatively easy money — a few weeks’ work dashing off a screenplay or a punch-up job to subsidize the year it’s going to take to write The Great American Novel.
Yesterday’s news that Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Chabon will take a pass at the script to Disney’s Magic Kingdom movie (in the wake of Pirates of the Caribbean, that studio will not rest until every square inch of its theme parks have been turned into films) wasn’t a huge shocker — and not just because Chabon has done previous work for Disney, or worked on the script to Spider-Man 2. He is simply the latest respected author to take Tinsel Town up on the offer of a generous paycheck. Join us after the jump for a look at ten other literary figures that did the same.
Read More »
Today at Flavorpill, we were tickled by these photos of women’s basketball teams from the early 1900s — particularly the long skirts. We found it adorable that cartoonist/dad Mark Anderson spent nearly two years recreating the alphabet for his kids using LEGO spaceships. We tried (and failed!) to solve this movie-related brain teaser. We discovered that The Steely Dan Infographic Project (“In which we create a chart, diagram, graph or other visual aid inspired by each and every Steely Dan song.”) actually exists. We checked out the cover of Mindy Kaling’s forthcoming book of humorous essays, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), which will be published by Random House in November. We took a 4-minute video journey through the entire Appalachian Trail. We were surprised to hear that Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Michael Chabon is reportedly in talks to re-write Magic Kingdom, Disney’s film about the amusement park coming to life at night, Night at the Museum-style. We were duly impressed by the Vatican Museum’s virtual-reality interactive 360° panorama of the Sistine Chapel. And finally, we wished that these hilarious mock ads for the Smithsonian — a student project by Jenny Burrows and Matt Kappler — were the real thing.
1. Former Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr — who most recently appeared on VH1’s Celebrity Rehab in 2009 — has died of unknown causes. He was 44. [via Billboard]
2. Watch the new video for the National’s High Violet track “Conversation 16,” which features cameos from Mad Men star John Slattery and comedian Kristen Schaal. [via P4K]
3. The PS 22 Chorus has an 8-minute long musical message to Bravo’s Andy Cohen — who publicly panned their performance at this year’s Oscars. Evidently they weren’t satisfied with his apology. [via Vulture]
4. Michael Chabon and his wife Ayelet Waldman are working on a new show called Hobgoblin for HBO that will feature magicians, con men, and Hitler. [via Slashfilm]
5. Crushable is exclusively reporting that a potential Lauryn Hill book project fizzled out several years ago when the star was deemed more trouble than she was worth. Allegedly, the agency wanted Hill to write a memoir chronicling her early career; she was more interested in working on an addendum to the Bible which had appeared to her in a dream.
One of our favorite underrated movies is Wonder Boys, director Curtis Hanson’s film version of Michael Chabon’s terrific novel. It’s smart, it’s funny, it’s heartwarming, and it’s got a livewire Robert Downey Jr., an understated Michael Douglas, a pre-Spider-Man Tobey Maguire, a pre-Xenu Katie Holmes, and Frances McDormand (who requires no qualifications) — and, on top of all of that, Bob Dylan’s Oscar-winning “Things Have Changed.” Yep, Wonder Boys is pretty much a perfect movie — except for one flaw.
Read More »
The results are in on Central Connecticut State University’s annual study ranking the most literate cities in the United States. And guess what? Despite the literary mecca that is Brooklyn, New York doesn’t even crack the top 25. In fact, we’re pretty sure the top 10 will surprise you. But don’t worry if you’re not conversant in the literary classics of our most well-read cities. We’ve matched each with a book that’s set there. Take a virtual roadtrip through America’s most literate metropolises after the jump.
Read More »
The extremely unconventional 36th issue of McSweeney’s quarterly magazine is a box-shaped head filled with short stories, art postcards, a “lost” work by Michael Chabon, and a tiny scroll.
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius author Dave Eggers founded McSweeney’s independent publishing house as a forum for indie literary-fiction authors to articulate progressive ideas. Issue 36 is a “275-cubic-inch full-color head-crate” filled with booklets and other objects, ripe for the sifting.
Read More »
Whether retroactively penned by adoring fans, postmodern literary pranksters, or the original authors themselves, imaginary books have a way of eventually making their way into reality, evolving from two-dimensional plot props into real published tomes. Although we’ve already made a wishlist of reads we wish fictional characters would write — and indeed over in TV-land, characters from Mad Men’s Roger Sterling to Californication’s Hank Moody have also had their fictional volumes published on this side of the screen — here are five real books that exemplify literary life imitating fictional art.
Read More »
With his rebellious attitude, varied monikers, self-appointed titles, and dizzying array of costume changes, the devil is pretty much a quintessential diva — just with a few added demands. The newly released anthology Sympathy for the Devil
showcases his popularity as a flamboyant literary muse with stories by the likes of goth-horror master Stephen King, Pulitzer-winning indie fave Michael Chabon, and high school English staple Nathaniel Hawthorne. But before disappearing into this well-curated abyss, familiarize yourself with the Prince of Darkness’ varied incarnations through our guide to some of his preferred literary personas — it might not save your soul, but at least you’ll know what you’re up against.
Read More »
