Category Archives: Books Publishing and Writing

Michael Chabon Likes Genre Fiction, Punts on Endorsing It

Posted on September 30, 2012 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: In a recent NYT interview of Michael Chabon for the Book section, the following exchange took place: You can suggest three books to a literary snob who believes genre fiction has no merit. What’s on the list? … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Walter B. Gibson interview

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Glynn Marshes

Glynn Marshes writes: An interview with Walter B. Gibson, the writer who adapted the radio character “the Shadow” for print. About a half hour. Pulpy goodness! http://ww3.tvo.org/video/163545/pulp-novel

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Learning from Las Vegas: the Duck v. the Decorated Shed

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: While in Vegas, I was lucky enough to get a guided tour of the downtown area from a long-time resident who works for the Nevada Gaming Commission and I talked with another friend who’s a writer with … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Books Publishing and Writing, Commercial art, Photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Infographic of the Day

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Blowhard, Esq.

Taken from Austin Kleon’s Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing, Humor | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Sailer on Broyard and “Passing”

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Paleo Retiree

Paleo Retiree writes: Steve Sailer has been writing (and leading discussions) about the topic of “passing” — the way some black people “pass” as white.  (See here, here, here and here.) One of his examples has been the late writer … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing, Science | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Food fight!

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Glynn Marshes

Glynn Marshes writes: Trouble on the literary scene! A couple of Brit writers–RJ Ellory and Stephen Leather–were caught posting sock puppet reviews on Amazon. Their probable undoing: they didn’t stop at giving their own books 5 stars. They also posted … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

NY Times Jumps the Shark, or, Trolling Becomes Journalism’s New Standard

Posted on September 3, 2012 by Glynn Marshes

Glynn Marshes writes: So a few days ago, in the comment thread on “What’s wrong with white boys playing the blues,” jr dismissed the LA Weekly article cited as an “exercise in trolling.” Now comes the New York Times, in … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

“Black Wings Has My Angel”

Posted on September 2, 2012 by Fabrizio del Wrongo

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes: Someone recommended this to me a while back. I took a chance on it when I noticed it was available cheap for the Amazon Kindle. (Maybe it still is.) Written by the terrifically-named Elliott Chaze, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing, Commercial art, Movies, Personal reflections, Sex | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

House Style at The New Yorker

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Paleo Retiree

Paleo Retiree writes: Take a look at the following first-lines-of-articles-from-The-New-Yorker and tell me if you’re as struck by certain patterns and similarities as I’ve been. “In 2004, Carolina Izquierdo, an anthropologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, spent several … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing | Tagged , | 10 Comments

More on Symbolism

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: Last night I opened my copy of Taleb’s Fooled by Randomness and was greeted with this passage: At the cost of appearing biased, I have to say that the literary mind can be intentionally prone to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment