Three Chatbots Answer the Proust Questionnaire “Q: Which living person do you most despise? A: Not funny.” [via Mediabistro]

One of the major reasons I love Infinite Jest is that it seems like it was written by an extremely intelligent alien; someone trying so intricately and direly to figure out humans and so utterly, utterly failing.

Longshot Magazine (formerly 48 Hours Magazine), has announced the theme of their next issue. You have 24 hours (Deadline: 3PM EST 7/30) to submit something about debt. Details here.

ETA: And just like that, the issue has been published. Check it out.

The more you worship yourself online the bigger fukk you look like.

Dear Publishers, When you go around saying you are into “discovering new voices,” make sure you don’t really mean “discovering new people who write in the exact same voices we always publish.”

“Teachers and writers who venerate Catcher have to ask themselves: How relevant is Holden in a world where he is an actual minority?”
–Ned Vizzini on The End of the White Outsider

“Whether or not that work is deemed to be of a high quality, the activities Lin and his peers do online—hours of blogging, tweeting, commenting, and emailing—suggest that they are tirelessly working to advance their name and their art.”

At The Morning News, Daniel B. Roberts writes about Tao Lin and Muumuu House in Much Ado About Whatever.

Poets are the most jealous type of artist. One of the most jealous moments I’ve experienced is when I heard Heather Christle’s second book The Trees the Trees was being published by Octopus Books and her third book What is Amazing was forthcoming from Wesleyan University Press. I’d love to hear your jealous moments (bonus points for commenting under your own name).

A new Brian Evenson story, “Anskan House,” appears online as an excerpt from the new issue of Redivider.

I don’t mean to be a nudge, but I actually do. If you haven’t filled out my small survey, would you please? I’d like at least 30 more respondents in order to get a proper non-scientific view of how a tiny sliver of the population views the J-O-B word alongside creativity and other such nonsense. I will write an exciting post about this very subject! Including data!

A job worth doing.