The secret of biography resides in finding the link between talent and achievement. A biography seems irrelevant if it doesn’t discover the overlap between what the individual did and the life that made this possible. Without discovering that, you have shapeless happenings and gossip."
-Leon Edel, Paris Review interview (Writers at Work, Eighth Series)
Read a deep meaningful story; prepare for the inevitability of death (list to do things ;D High Tatra Mountains Living Best for your Heart
Art of Living & Literature Across Frontiers: Stuck on the same page: Mining the Fertile Field of Culture
Hey, nobody said blogging has to be profound: I'm not sure when it started, but I've become a serial book-unfinisher
My friend B is all hot on a fancy spy novelist named Alan Furst. He eagerly thrust into my hands one of Furst's books, Kingdom of Shadows. Gave me the he's-so-good-you're-so-lucky-to-be-reading-him-for-the-first-time talk. I have long believed B to be smarter than me, so I obediently set to work.
Sure enough, the book has sex, death, trains and double-crosses in far-flung corners of Nazi-occupied Europe. I made it to page 101 before I completely ran out of interest: "Draw the room," Novotny said. "Don't forget the elevator for the shells." I realized I had forgotten who Novotny was or who he was talking to. So much for Alan Furst.
• The Serial Book-Unfinisher [If an alien reality existed, as Hegel thought, then we would not exist Cooking for Aliens ; Time Out for Hunger - Dine Out & Make a Difference. On Sunday, March 20th, New York's top restaurants will help feed New Yorkers in need by graciously donating 10% of their day's proceeds to the Food Bank For New York City. Could Sydney Be Far Behind? ]
• · Rethink publishing ... and expand the market with books people want What Would Make People Buy More Books? ; iterary first novels are almost impossible to introduce into the marketplace. Bookstores will only order them in small quantities, if at all, and it is difficult to get reviews, especially in places that really matter. Additionally, getting a bookstore reading for a first fiction author is an effort that would make Sisyphus proud The Catch-22 Of First Time Fiction
• · · The television industry is repeating an ancient joke that kids enjoy when they first learn to count: "Why is Ten scared? Because Seven ate Nine." Ten nervous after Seven ate Nine ; Axed and ridiculed in its first year, Neighbours has gone on to become a national institution. Launched by the Seven Network on March 18, 1985, Neighbours struggled for four months before a quiet, ignominious cancellation. In an extraordinary move, Channel Ten bought the show, relaunching it to an indifferent audience and sceptical critics Almost as Old as our Orwellian 1984 Marriage
• · · · Sophie Masson Favourite Aussie authors? Aussie battlers ; In conjunction with Paris's Salon du Livre, which opens Friday, the European Union announced results of a survey confirming that exponential title expansion is occurring in multiple markets. Britain leads Europe in issuing 120,000 new books a year; Germany is second with 80,000 titles; and Spain, France and Italy each published 60,000 to 70,000 new titles. Paris Fair
• · · · · Harlequin is planning its own line of upperbacks, for books targeted at women in the "'next' stage of life." Of course their idea of a premium price is $5.50, up from their usual $4.99 Publishers aim for the next big thing; The Czech Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the conviction of a man who published a Czech language translation of Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf," ruling he did not seek to propagate the book's racist ideas Czech Court Rejects Mein Kampf Publisher Conviction
• · · · · · The people of the Andamans have a unique way of life. True, their material culture does not extend beyond a few simple tools, and their visual art is confined to a few geometrical motifs, but they are hunter-gatherers and so a rarity in the modern world A Family Tree in Every Gene ; I can't die yet. There are many men I must kill first. (Yojimbo): Indian film makers called on Tuesday for a ban on actor Shakti Kapoor after he was filmed offering a woman help with her acting career in exchange for sex and later implying the practice was common. Bollywood Actor Caught In Sex-For-Career Sting