Blake Butler—
1. At The Rumpus, Stephen Elliott questions the authtor copy policies of publishers, rightly insisting that the author is his own best promotion machine and should therefore have books to back it up.
2. At Abe Books, 25 iconic book covers. Any they missed? [via Moby Lives]
3. At DC’s, 80 chandeliers.
4. At n+1, Paul Maliszewski remembers David Markson.
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Catherine Lacey—
Jonathan Franzen on David Foster Wallace:
Somebody could write a whole monograph on how deliberately and artfully he deploys the modifier ‘sort of.’
This is a map made by an exiled pianist, as a directive to the members of his band. He could not foresee that his musical and topographical instruction should be used backwards. As a cartographer, he was not appreciated in his own country.
What's funnier than Adam Sanblerg?
While trying and failing to embed Peter Greenaway’s hilarious film, A Walk Through H (1978), which is what I actually want you to watch here (so pardon this aside – it’s what I do), I found this 3D walk-through of the Beis Hamikdash in Jerusalem. This is the temple where, in the New Testament, Jesus is said to have prayed and chased merchants away, claiming they were desecrating the temple. The temple in this video. READ MORE >
Jimmy Chen—
"Redundant Clock" by Ji Lee
Keep thinking about this gag joke, and it becomes something more — some new numeric system; an existential 12 hour carousel; a sign that can only point to itself at the right moment, if moments were full minutes; the wrongness of its arms betwixt the hours, as if struggling for their own signs; the zen koan of it always being now o’clock.
David Markson reads at the 92nd St. Y, 2007
[Thanks to Stephen for the heads up.]
Blake Butler—
1. Apple’s dabbling in the censorship business, specifically Ulysses.
2. Kimberly King Parsons gives Eugene Marten’s Firework five stars at Time Out New York.
3. Simmons interviews Tom Bissell at Fanzine
4. I rewatched Dead Ringers for the first time in about 10 years last night. Man, that movie is fucked up.
Poetry that’s not ‘poetry’
Shannan Hayes is one of my favorite young artists, especially her project Social Exchange, a series of 180 thank you cards.
The Bather
Here’s me in the tub, circa 1999, reading Infinite Jest to Benji. Thanks to our third roommate, Craig, for sending me the photo.
Except for submissions, I read almost exclusively in the bathtub. I’ll even take a bath in the middle of the day so I can get some reading done. I think it just works best for me ergonomically. What about you?
Sean Lovelace—
I am presenting the concept of creative nonfiction to intro writing students tomorrow. They will write their first exercise. Should I tell them to use qualifiers–“Perhaps, my mother said…” “As I remember it…”–or should I tell them to respect the reader: the contemporary reader obviously understands that CNF is flawed memory using flawed words.