Afternoon Bites: Blake Butler on the Clarice Lispector Reissues, John Hodgman Talks Superheroes, Chaotic Neutral “Downton Abbey,” and More

Blake Butler looks at the recent crop of Clarice Lispector reissues from New Directions. J. Robert Lennon has some seasonally appropriate fiction for you at Recommended Reading. Lindsay Zoladz’s column Ordinary Machines, which looks at technology and music and identity, debuts at Pitchfork. Unwound will be releasing an album of live songs recorded in 2001. If these stills are any indication, the book trailer for Warren Ellis’s Gun Machine should be very interesting. Nick Offerman is voicing Axe Cop. This […]

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Morning Bites: 2011 NBA champions, John Hodgman on OWS, Amis on DeLillo, Kurt Vile pics, and more

Jesmyn Ward, Nikky Finney, and Stephen Greenblatt became the only people that will be able to say that they won anything from the NBA in 2011.  The Washington Post has a nice Twitter timeline of the National Book Award happenings, and The New York Times has a rundown as well. John Hodgman explains what Occupy Wall Street, Herman Cain, and the musical Cats have in common. Martin Amis talks of Don DeLillo’s “prophetic soul.” (Thanks Gabrielle Gantz for the tip) Ann Beattie talks to […]

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John Hodgman + Tom Scharpling = Book Trailer Bar: Raised

Posted by Tobias Carroll We daresay that this Tom Scharpling-directed trailer for John Hodgman’s upcoming That Is All may have raised the bar for the nascent genre. It’s got Hodgman doing eccentric deadpan, a host of terrific locations, a very meta riff on celebrity cameos in book trailers, and an earworm-esque theme song. And it’s hard to argue with something where the central concept is “The Deranged Millionaire.”

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Weekend Bites: 100 Years After Tolstoy, Yale Gives Back to the Incas, Richard Nash, Bellow’s Letters and More

At Slate: Looking at Leo Tolstoy 100 years after his death. At The Huffington Post: White people trying to make up for destroying ancient civilizations At Jewcy: An interview with Richard Nash. At Boing Boing: Somebody is really excited about the John Hodgman podcast. At The Atlantic: Sure, Harry Potter makes a ton of money, but is it the best franchise ever? At The Guardian: Saul Bellow: Letters is reviewed.

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