Lousy writing is unearned, a failure of scrupulousness, a surrender to self-indulgence. “Dull writing,” Kenner writes, “has never deceived anyone, not even its author. He is not deceived in finding it interesting, he is merely interested in it. Another person need not be.”
'To Know When You Have Made Good Ones'
In his poem “Whenever,” Robert Conquest endorses Wyndham Lewis’ call for “a tongue that naked goes / Without more fuss than Dryden’s or Defoe’s.” He means blunt, cant-free, indifferent to moral fashion. The poem proceeds in the form of an indictment:
“Our age requires . . . But first we should expound
What sort of age it is. Just look around!
The Anti-Putin Songs That Have Gone Viral In Ukraine
Can Fairy Tales Explain The (Lack Of) Progress In Russia’s War On Ukraine?
A FUN SERIES OF CHARTS: Putting Time in Perspective. A reminder, among other things, that Cleopatra lived closer to the building of the first Pizza Hut than to the building of the first pyramid.
10 Things That Can Affect Your Dreams At Night
Why It’s Almost Impossible to Lose Anything in Japan
Sexiest degree at the University of London? Philosophy. — “Going on a date with these precious overthinkers guarantees you’ll learn something new,” says the London Tab
Damon Galgut Q & A
At Scroll.in Sayari Debnath has: 'An interview with Damon Galgut about his books, his connections with India, and winning The Booker Prize', in ‘I simply write what I have experienced, what I know’: Damon Galgut, 2021 Booker Prize winner.
What are the main contributions that philosophers have made to Internet studies? — Catarina Dutilh Novaes (VU Amsterdam) starts a list and gets some help from the crowd
“My grandfather… was summoned to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee in the winter of 1958” — Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin (Sam Houston State Univ.) on the lessons his grandfather’s ordeal holds for today’s disputes over teaching about racism
Decades after his death, W.G. Sebald's style, long after his death, seems more and more like a prophecy of our literature of distraction ... Sebald
New editor coming to NYTBR
The New York Times has announced that The New York Times Book Review's editor is moving on -- and up ? --, in Pamela Paul's Next Chapter: Times Opinion Columnist -- yes, she's joining former husband Bret Stephens on the Opinion-roster .....
Paul has led the NYTBR since 2013 -- and during her tenure all The New York Times' book coverage was consolidated (previously the daily newspaper's and the NYTBR's were separate).
It'll certainly be interesting to see who takes over next -- and whether there will be radical changes to the Sunday section (and the book coverage in The New York Timesgenerally).
(Updated - 10 March): They've now placed the job announcement for the vacated editor position. They note:
And it demands an editor with nerve, an editor wary of trends, invested in style, someone uninterested in puffery and cliché. Someone bold. Is that you ?
(Not sure how honest they're being with themselves here -- I'd think that as an editor of a section of The New York Timesit's practically an obligation to scour for and jump on trends .....)
No mention of salary, however. But you bold folk, go on and apply !
SCIENCE: The Science Is in – You Should Leave Your Filthy Shoes Outside The House.
