“I am a man improved by the experience of those cruel things… I was a good and pious boy; I have become a better and more pious boy, that’s all. If I may put it this way, I have been purified by wickedness.”

Here’s a big ole FYI for y’all. There’s not a thing in this world that would keep me from this event, save for the fact of my being on the other side of said world until mid-August. Take it away, Joanna Yas of Open City:

David Berman will be making a very rare appearance in New York on Sunday,  July 25, 6pm, for a reading and discussion at the NYU Lillian  Vernon Creative Writers House, 58 West 10th Street (btw 5th &  6th).

This event  is part of the the Open City Summer Writing Workshop, but we have a very  limited number of seats available for the public for $15.

Tickets are available here (tickets will not be sold at the door)
http://www.opencity.org/ocsummerberman.html

The Paris Review is unaccepting previously accepted poems, citing change of editorship. Daniel Nester has the scoop.

I am currently finishing up what will be the final issue of Lamination Colony, at least in its current incarnation. Big machine, this last piece. In the spirit, I am opening submissions to anyone for the rest of today, until midnight east coast time. I will probably only take a couple pieces, as it’s already large and scary, but send me something totally ridiculous and terrifying, please. Responses will be sent if I have room, otherwise likely just thank you in advance. Send to: laminationcolony [at] gmail [dot] com.

What the heck? Ugly Duckling Presse doing eBooks? Yep, and with Issuu no less. Awesome.

Soda Series #2 is tomorrow in Brooklyn @ 7PM: Matt Bell, John Madera, Jeff Parker and Amber Sparks. Gawk the details at http://sodaseries.com/.

I’d rate the movie solidly in the middle of the pack of Disney live-action films: Escape to Witch Mountain, The Gnomemobile, and the Midvale High movies. Better than the Apple Dumpling Gang, but not as good as Old Yeller.

– Michael D. Houst, Barrington NH, reviewing the new Sorcerer’s Apprentice in the comments section of A.O. Scott’s review of same.

I ask this question with all sincerity: Why would people actively choose to read Twilight over any other good book of fiction? Psychologically, wtf are they thinking?

John Jodzio picked the following three people to win the Jodzio Book Giveaway: Brooks Sterritt, Snowden Wright, JScap. Winners, please email us your mailing address at htmlgiant [at] htmlgiant.com so we can send you the books.

Amelia Gray threatened an audience at a reading. The New Republic wrote about it.