Paging tech support (special thanks to Barbara!).
Maybe the cravings happen pre-pregnancy? Who knows–the brain is definitely weirder than previously thought, and ten bucks says the same is true of the rest of the body. Also, my biggest nerd crush of all time has a new book out (yes, I own it already).
I am tired of caring about Chuck Klosterman. He’s like Britney Spears or Anna Nicole–someone reports on him and I read it because I am a schmuck. I beg of you, book reporters, stop writing about this man.
“Only one personne has stood firm amid this decay. My natural modesty makes me reluctant to name him, but I have been persuaded it is in the best interests of La Belle France for me to do so. Oui, c’est moi!” Good thing, too. The Americans are coming! The Americans are coming!
Really? Madonna? Yikes. Somewhat relatedly: scrotums sell books. Also somewhat relatedly: old people misremember things. Maybe that’s why people think Madonna’s Sex is worth seeking out?
D’Souza slams The New Criterion, fails to explain whether he finds Martha Nussbaum‘s skirt too short or her philosophy too smart (see also: “For any view you put forward,” she said, “the next question simply has to be, ‘What would the world be like if this idea were actually taken up?” Perhaps that was what D’Souza objected to?).
Ok, yes, I think it would be a bad idea to reply to a bad review. On the other hand, how would really entertaining feuds ever happen if authors just took their kickings?
Martin Amis never fails to excite. At least, as long as your standards aren’t ridiculously high.
Pentagon refuses to declassify…. poems?
“Nuns have a powerful hold on our fantasies.”
There were a number of things I thought would be unimportant as a child and did not learn (see also: left vs. right). I decided arbitrarily to put the day first, then the month, then the year, and to this day, it’s how I write dates. If I were anywhere but the US, that would probably be ok.
On the one hand, the literary canon is important (and also, anyone not terrified by The Turn of the Screw is guilty of insufficient imagination). On the other hand, I’ve never read a Jane Austen book I’ve liked. Yes, she is good at the psychology of human interaction; it doesn’t make her any less of a crashing bore. To say nothing of that bad habit of hers where everyone is absolutely good or absolutely evil. Because who cares about narrative tension when there is romance? Yes, thank you, Jane Austen, for giving birth to chick lit.