27 September 2007
It’s a Big Weekend for Book Festivals!
Categories: events |
This weekend, you could go to the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., or the nearby Baltimore Book Festival, or, if you’re on the West Coast, the West Hollywood Book Fair. If you tally all the special guests up, provided the overlap between D.C. and Baltimore’s lineup isn’t too significant, the three events should bring readers in touch with more than 500 authors, which is pretty awesome.
Me, I’m going to see Sir Ian McKellen play Lear. Woo hoo!
22 September 2007
What’s More Painful Than Alice Walker’s Poetry?
Categories: poetry |
Alice Walker’s poetry, illustrated.
Actually, in all fairness, this is one of the better examples of Stefano Vitale’s artwork for Why War Is Never a Good Idea, which is about as good as it can be considering what he’s being asked to work with. Because Walker’s poetry really is as bad as all that, a classic example of what Thomas Disch dismissed as “snapped prose in slim volumes.” And, sure, I feel a teensy bit guilty ragging on a kid’s book meant to honor the United Nations International Day of Peace, but let’s face it, sucky literature will not bring about world peace. Here’s the “best” part, which I’m going to render as the prose it is, to save space:
Picture a donkey peacefully sniffing a pile of straw A small boy holds the end of its frayed rope bridle. They do not see it They are both thinking of dinner The boy is hoping for polenta & eggs maybe a carrot or apple for dessert. Just above them something dark big as a car is dropping.
Bleargh.
20 September 2007
Stephen Fry Has a Blog Now
Categories: uncategorized |
Yes, it’s true, British actor/author Stephen Fry is blogging, but, so far, not about literature or even acting. Instead, in his first entry, he’s talking about technology: “I have gorged myself on electronic gismos, computer accessories, toys, gadgets and what-have-yous of all descriptions,” he writes, “but most especially what are now known as SmartPhones. PDAs, Wireless PIMs, call them what you will.”
And damned if the guy doesn’t know his geek down cold.
This reminds me that I have been meaning for ages to say lovely things about Fry’s most recent book, The Ode Less Travelled, which came out in paperback earlier this summer, and I just never seemed to get around to it, which is pretty sucky of me. Because it really is quite a good book, and although I generally consider myself somewhat intellectually well off, I’m the first to admit that my poetic appreciation skills are underdeveloped, and Fry has actually given me a little more confidence that I have enough historical and technical context to better understand what the heck it is I’m reading.
(Thanks to Nat Torkington for clueing me in!)
