The Great George Saunders On The Importance of Kindness
Check out this beautiful animated video inspired by George Saunders’ commencement speech given at Syracuse University. The same speech inspired the book Congratulations, By The Way.
books
Test Your Literary Toughness
Reading Flavorwire’s “50 Incredibly Tough Books for Extreme Readers” challenged my literary fortitude. I found myself wanting to buy a bunch of new books, then take kickboxing lessons, hit the gym, or maybe dive of a cliff. I applaud the effort to compile a list of fifty tough books. Even putting this list together required its own toughness … [Read more…]
All the Cool Kids Read Banned Books
Yesterday marked the first day of banned books week this year, and there is much to celebrate. According to the event’s webpage, the week is an annual celebration of intellectual freedom from censorship that was kicked off in 1982 in response to mounting censorship of literature in schools. Since its inception, “[m]ore than 11,300 books … [Read more…]
My Friends Call Me Sleazus
The Penguin Press has released a bizarre trailer for the new Thomas Pynchon book. His latest, The Bleeding Edge, is available September 17th. According to Penguin, in his new book, “Thomas Pynchon brings us to New York in the early days of the internet.” A write up at Penguin’s site tells us this about the … [Read more…]
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 22 Essential Books
Here’s a great reading list given to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s nurse and written down in her handwriting. Here’s more on the list from Open Culture: In 1936 — perhaps the darkest year of his life — F. Scott Fitzgerald was convalescing in a hotel in Asheville, North Carolina, when he offered his nurse a list … [Read more…]