A Night in the Pillory: “Should Critics Be Harsh?” Live at the New School

Last night the New School’s Theresa Lang Community Center on West 13th Street held a panel discussion entitled “Should Critics Be Harsh?”  The seminar was moderated by author/professor Christopher Beha (What Happened to Sophie Wilder?), who was joined by Jacob Silverman and Troy Patterson of Slate alongside Salon book critic Laura Miller.  Advertised but not present were author Daniel Mendelsohn and Ruth Franklin of The New Republic.  Mutterings within the audience suggested that Mendelsohn had a gig for the New York Review of Books that he couldn’t get out of, and […]

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Afternoon Bites: Bikini Kill Oral History, Brian Eno’s Collaborations, David Foster Wallace’s Nonfiction, and More

Jessica Hopper put together an oral history of Bikini Kill’s first EP. Which all of you should go read right now, essentially. L’Etoile on a new exhibition of Cindy Sherman’s work. D.T. Max on David Foster Wallace’s nonfiction. Douglas Wolk on Brian Eno’s many collaborations. There will be an Occupy Sandy benefit concert on Saturday. Damon Krukowski of Galaxie 500 and Damon & Naomi breaks down how much his bands have received in royalties from streaming audio services. Triple Canopy […]

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Afternoon Bites: New Janet Malcolm, Blackout Covers, Carl Wilson on Leonard Cohen, and More

The New York Times on how political reporters read. Michael Robbins on David Foster Wallace. Carl Wilson on Leonard Cohen. The story behind New York‘s amazing blackout cover. New Janet Malcolm nonfiction in the New York Review of Books. Clearly I Didn’t Think This Through author Anna Goldfarb is profiled in Metro today. Joe Winkler looks at Christopher Hitchens’s Mortality. Proceeds from Dan Deacon’s New York shows later this month will go towards Hurricane Sandy relief. Follow Vol. 1 Brooklyn on Twitter, Facebook, Google + and our Tumblr.

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Morning Bites: Updating DFW, Robber Barons, Zadie’s First Lines, Frank Ocean and More

Journalistically speaking, there is no hot news to offer you about Roger Federer. He is, at 25 30, the best tennis player currently alive. – Updating David Foster Wallace’s “Federer as Religious Experience.” Originally published in 2006. The Millions have the first lines of Zadie Smith’s NW. Updike’s Bech stories reviewed at The New Republic. America’s first female robber barron. The New York Times profiles Frank Ocean. Follow Vol. 1 Brooklyn on Twitter, Facebook, Google + and our Tumblr.

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Morning Bites: Maurice Sendak, Redoing the Pulitzer, Poet Held Accountable, and More

Maurice Sendak has passed away at the age of 83. The administration of UC Davis is holding poet and professor Joshua Clover and 11 students accountable for their alleged role in protests that led to the shutdown of a campus US Bank. The New York Times asks several prominent critics who they’d give the Pulitzer to fiction in. LitKicks takes a look at the life and work of Comte de Lautréamont. The Hairpin lists some really good books about history. Notes […]

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Reviewed: Daniel Fish Takes on David Foster Wallace for the Theater

Tennis balls in a slanted pattern cover the floor of the performance loft. As you walk in you immediately see a machine named the Lob-ster fire tennis balls at a paper picture of a young girl in tennis clothing with her back to us. (The setup feeds right into my David Foster Wallace dorkiness as I catch the numerous allusions throughout the room. I laugh at the reference to Consider the Lobster, and to perhaps the funniest scene in the […]

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