December 01, 2003Literature: Contemporary Blog Archives |
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The Nine - Harbingers of a Literary 2004 As we teeter on the brink of a fresh New Year, I'm going to take a moment to play literary Nostradamus here and hand-pick a few titles from the treasure-trove of works the publishers are about to throw out at us in early 2004.
The Nine, as I've titled my list (in honor of the recent swell of attention deservedly paid to J.R.R. Tolkien's masterworks), include new offerings from big names like Anne Tyler and Elmore Leonard as well as gems from relative unknowns Samina Ali and Anne Ursu. Check 'em out... check 'em all out. There are even a couple of wildly intriguing memoirs thrown in from the likes of poet, Sam Kashner, and humor columnist, Hollis Gillespie. Have a Happy New Year, be safe out there, and play nice. 07:07 AM # Have a Sedaris Christmas!As the madness of the holidays crests and splashes over you and your family, there is always one place in which you can take refuge - literature. And who better to provide perspective in the jingle bell craziness of the Christmas season than David Sedaris?My favorite radio program, This American Life, graciously provides access to their audio archives on www.thislife.org. Here are links to a couple of Christmas Real Audio gems that feature David Sedaris, a regular contributer to the program: www.thislife.org/ra/47.ram - Includes David Sedaris's "The Santaland Diaries" www.thislife.org/ra/201.ram - Sedaris's hilarious Christmas story, "6 to 8 Black Men" Happy Holidays! 12:24 PM # Hardcore Zen by Brad Warner In his new book, Brad Warner explores Buddhism and metaphysics through a philosophy he dubs "Hardcore Zen." The "Hardcore" refers to hardcore punk music of the early '80s. "Zen" is the ancient Japanese form of Buddhism where the trick to knowing everything is achieved by understanding that knowledge doesn't exist. In "Hardcore Zen," Warner plays the philosophical alchemist, , melding the two.Read Evan Dashevsky's Review 06:04 PM # Lord of The Rings takes First Place in BBC's Big ReadJ.R.R. Tolkien's already vastly popular series, "The Lord of the Rings," has gained a huge push in popularity with Peter Jackson's renditions of the books as blockbuster films, the third of which, "The Return of the King," opened in theatres across the U.S. today. In Britain, however, the literary trio took a first place title in the BBC's Big Read contest, in which more than half a million people voted for their favorite books.Following "The Lord of the Rings" was Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice." Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trailed in third place. In fourth and fifth places were Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and J K Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." More from the BBC. 06:27 PM # J.M. Coetzee accepts Nobel Prize for Literature Two-time winner of the Booker Prize and internationally reknowned South African writer, John Maxwell Coetzee (pronounced "kut-SEE-uh") accepted the Nobel Prize for Literature on December 10. He is the second South African to do so after Nadine Gordimer, who won in 1991.
Coetzee's work has been called uncompromising and philosophical. He is as much a thinker as a writer and has been hailed for his thematically challenging and cerebrally rigorous work. His latest novel, Elizabeth Costello tells the tale of "a distinguished and aging Australian novelist whose life is revealed through an ingenious series of eight formal addresses." Read an excerpt from Coetzee's latest novel, Elizabeth Costello. 06:15 AM # The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger "The Time Traveler's Wife" is an inventively rendered tale of life, love, and time-travel with a healthy dose of art and letters and punk music thrown in for good measure.The author, Audrey Niffenegger, is a visual artist, and professor in the Interdisciplinary Book Arts MFA Program at the Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts. In our recent interview, she discusses her work and her loves. Read the prologue of The Time Traveler's Wife. Read the interview with Audrey Niffenegger. 11:10 AM # Deck The Shelves.Clay Evans and Kathy Sinclair of the Boulder Daily Camera highlight well-known author's forays into Holiday-themed books. Jude Deveraux's "Holly," John Grisham's "Skipping Christmas," and Madeleine L'Engle's "Bright Evening Star: Mystery of the Incarnation" are just a few of the yuletide titles perused here.Read the article. 10:17 PM # Happy Birthday Joan Didion and Calvin Trillin!Two of America's most well-respected essayists celebrate birthdays today! Weird, huh? Today, Joan Didion turns 69 and Calvin Trillin turns 68.Happy Birthday! 11:33 AM # The Toronto Globe and Mail's Literary ChallengeFun stuff! For eight years running, The Toronto Globe and Mail has put forward a quiz, a contest, a challenge for all of you literary afficianados (Just for the record, I failed utterly!) - the questions are international in their scope and your entries can be e-mailed or snail-mailed to the Canadian periodical.Visit the Globe and Mail's Literary Challenge here! 06:34 PM # |
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