Comic books (or “graphic novels” as they’re now being called) are hot. “More than a few of these works not only tap into a burgeoning post-20th-century self-referential nostalgia, they also manage brilliantly to bridge the ever-widening chasm between visual and print generations. Thus, the ascendancy of the graphic novel becomes less about economics and more about the intertwined abstractions of demographics and esthetics. A fusion of styles and fascinations has facilitated the maturation of the comic book into a smart, funny, haunting work of literature with effects.” – The Globe & Mail (Canada)
Author: Douglas McLennan
E-BOOKS: MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS
- Is the electronic book really going to democratize publishing, as its proponents hope? Or simply flood the market with content, without a filter for quality or a universal format for downloading and reading? “Last week’s e-Book World Conference showed an industry riven by as much schizophrenia as the presidential elections. For now, anyway, the e-book industry is more rumpus than reality.” – Village Voice
LAMENTING A BRILLIANT PARTNERSHIP
Arthur Sullivan was made famous and very rich by his collaboration with William Gilbert. And the musical plays they wrote are still performed 100 years after Sullivan’s death (the anniversary of which is this week). So why did he die believing he had wasted his life and cursing his partner? – The Times (UK)
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO SAVE A THEATRE?
Boston’s historic Opera House is crumbling, “and while the designated developer and neighbors argue over loading docks, the roof on the 73-year-old Washington Street landmark will not survive another winter. Why is it so hard to save a theater in this town?” – Boston Globe
SO MUCH FOR THE NAPSTER THREAT
This year four recordings have sold 1 million copies in their first week of release. In the previous history of the music industry, only two albums ever generated those kinds of initial sales. “Why the sudden increase of records achieving what not long ago was considered an impossible dream? Part of the answer is the overall growth of the music business, which soared from sales of $7.5 billion in the U.S. in 1990 to $14.5 billion last year, according to the Recording Industry Assn. of America. But mostly it’s marketing.” – Los Angeles Times
THE BEHAVE-AS-YOU-WANT CROWD
“Classical concerts are a free-for-all these days, with no human behavior apparently too shabby for public display. Last week at the Academy of Vocal Arts, a trio behind me reviewed the singers in real time. Part of this orchestras have brought on themselves. In an effort to drum up business, they have stressed informality and accessibility. The come-as-you-are message of the 1990s has been interpreted beyond its intended sartorial directive. It has come to mean behave-as-you-want.” – Philadelphia Inquirer
DREAM A LITTLE DREAM
It’s singer Charlotte Church versus her ex-manager in court, as the manager sues to get a percentage of all her earnings through 2002. – BBC
MICHELANGELO RESTORATION
Michelangelo’s statue of Moses in Rome is to get its first restoration in 200 years. Michelangelo worked on the statue in the early 1500s. – New Jersey Online
STOLEN PAINTING RETURNED
Washington’s National Gallery is returning a painting to the heir of a collector from whom the painting was stolen by the Nazis. “The painting, ‘Still Life with Fruit and Game’ by Flemish artist Frans Snyders, depicts a large basket of colorful fruit on a red tablecloth, surrounded by dead game, including birds and a small deer.” – New York Times
HITLER’S PRIVATE ART COLLECTION WAS LEGAL?
During the Second World War Hitler set up a private museum in Linz and had it stocked with treasures. The last surviving member of the team that acquired the art says that it was all obtained legally and none of it was stolen. – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung