"There are books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts.”
Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist
As Shakespeare noted: “The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose."
Nothing is more painful to me than the disdain with which people treat second-rate authors, as if there were room only for the first-raters.
A leader of an Alzheimer’s support group tells its members: “Step One is admitting you have a problem. Step Two is forgetting you have the problem.” Jennifer wants to add a third step:“Step Three is remembering that you forget.”
“We live in a place where the tabloid newspapers and TV shows run ads aimed a medical office receptionists, waiters, grocery baggers, and parking valets, offering them money for ‘confidential celebrity information’ they might have overheard.”
Eco-friendly tennis gear
On Thursday morning Icebergs pool was transformed into a tennis court for the launch of Adidas x Parley tennis collection.
On Thursday morning Icebergs pool was transformed into a tennis court for the launch of Adidas x Parley tennis collection.
Data mining adds evidence that war is baked into the structure of society MIT Technology Review
WASHINGTON — Intelligence agencies investigating mysterious "attacks" that led to brain injuries in U.S. personnel in Cuba and China consider Russia to be the main suspect, three U.S. officials and two others briefed on the investigation tell NBC News.
The suspicion that Russia is likely behind the alleged attacks is backed up by evidence from communications intercepts, known in the spy world as signals intelligence, amassed during a lengthy and ongoing investigation involving the FBI, the CIA and other U.S. agencies. The officials declined to elaborate on the nature of the intelligence.
Mystery attacks
Mystery attacks
WTOP – Target USA — Episode 151: David Whelan speaks out about his brother’s arrest on espionage charges in Russia – Law Librarian David Whelan discusses the arrest and detention of his twin brother, “Paul Whelan, 48, a former Marine from Michigan who was arrested in Moscow after authorities there say he was caught in the act of espionage — an accusation his family denies, saying he was in the nation to instead attend a friend’s wedding….”
See also CBC News – Q&A: Brother of accused spy in Russia says family operating on hope, mixed with anger
NEWS YOU CAN USE: How to Get Rid of Termites: In many cases, you can treat termites yourself, and for a lot less than it costs to go to the pros.My house is of an age where it probably had chlordane around the foundation anyway. . . .
My dad looked into buying black-market chlordane, which is apparently a thing, for his cabin back in the ’90s. It works!
Helpful or Entertaining Links
1. “Mrs. Post Enlarges on Etiquette.” Dorothy Parker’s review of Emily Post’s Etiquette.
2. “Politics and the English Language.” George Orwell’s classic essay on writing, which offers advice related to “reviewese.”
3. “40 Publishing Buzzwords, Clichés, and Euphemisms Decoded” and “More Publishing Buzzwords Decoded With Wit on Twitter.” A tongue-in-cheek list of book-review clichés submitted by editors, authors, and others and its sequel.
4. “A Sampling of Five Decades of Phobe-Lou Adams’s Brief Reviews.” A collection of short, witty reviews by a longtime reviewer for the Atlantic.
5. “Weblog Ethics.” Rebecca Blood’s excellent guide to ethics for bloggers.
2. “Politics and the English Language.” George Orwell’s classic essay on writing, which offers advice related to “reviewese.”
3. “40 Publishing Buzzwords, Clichés, and Euphemisms Decoded” and “More Publishing Buzzwords Decoded With Wit on Twitter.” A tongue-in-cheek list of book-review clichés submitted by editors, authors, and others and its sequel.
4. “A Sampling of Five Decades of Phobe-Lou Adams’s Brief Reviews.” A collection of short, witty reviews by a longtime reviewer for the Atlantic.
5. “Weblog Ethics.” Rebecca Blood’s excellent guide to ethics for bloggers.
6. Ruth Franklin’s acceptance speech for the 2012 Roger Shattuck Prize for literary criticism from the Center for Fiction, delivered on May 30, 2012.
7. “Tips for Successful Book Reviewing,” Rebecca Skloot’s excellent post on how to get started in book reviewing.
Janice Harayda runs One-Minute Book Reviews and tweets at @janiceharayda. She is a novelist and an award-winning journalist who has been the book columnist for Glamour, the book editor of the Plain Dealer in Cleveland, and a vice-president of the National Book Critics Circle. She wrote this article in conjunction with her appearance on the Critical Reviews panel at BookExpoAmerica’s2012 BEA Bloggers conference in New York. Dorothy Parker and Phoebe-Lou Adams are two of her paper mentors.
John Lennon's Report Card at Age 15: “He Has Too Many Wrong Ambitions and His Energy Is Too Often Misplaced" | Open Culture
Stories We Keep To Ourselves - The Sun Magazine
Happy 100th Birthday to the Soviet Homer! “Chilling out is not exactly his thing.” | The Book Haven
Featuring Joseph Brodsky, who says:
I’m awfully proud that I’m writing in the same language that he does. I think he’s one of the greatest men ever … one of the greatest and most courageous men who has ever lived in this century. I think he is an absolutely remarkable writer. As for legend … you shouldn’t worry or care about legend, you should read the work.
Featuring Joseph Brodsky, who says:
I’m awfully proud that I’m writing in the same language that he does. I think he’s one of the greatest men ever … one of the greatest and most courageous men who has ever lived in this century. I think he is an absolutely remarkable writer. As for legend … you shouldn’t worry or care about legend, you should read the work.
Ferlinghetti speaks out at 99, his voice as vital as ever - SFGate