Many readers know – or think they know – the answer to that question. “The problem is that upon close examination the reading experience is far more complex and far less visual than is commonly supposed.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Pension Costs Have Norway’s National Opera And Ballet Company Reeling
“Having to pay pensions for so many years after such low retirement ages” – 41 for ballet dancers, 52 for opera soloists and 56 for chorus members – “at relatively high rates, has already rendered the Norwegian Opera and Ballet technically bankrupt. Pension costs have risen 50 percent just since 2013.”
Life Is A Performance – Is That A Depressing Thought? It Shouldn’t Be
“The melancholy Jacques in As You Like It declares that, ‘All the world’s a stage,/ And all the men and women merely players.’ Macbeth cries, ‘Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,’ and Prospero sighs, ‘the great globe … shall dissolve / And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, / Leave not a rack behind.’ … But the metaphors themselves aren’t the problem. It’s the bitter taste we’ve baked into them.”
Marc Maron Became A Comedian Because He Thought They Have Life Figured Out
“I think when I was a kid, I always thought that the comics seemed to have a handle on things because they had a joke about everything or they had a point of view about everything, or they were able to manage a certain amount of chaos and pain and family situations. They just seemed to be able to handle life.”
Before You Start: A Look At Introductions, Forewords, and Prefaces
Nick Ripatrazone considers some classic examples of the genre(s), from Walker Percy’s foreword to A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole to Graham Greene’s own preface to The Comedians (framed as a letter to his editor) and Jack Kerouac’s intro-in-the-form-of-a-questionnaire to Lonesome Traveler.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 05.06.15
What is the place of cultural institutions within their communities?
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2015-05-06
Engage Now!
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2015-05-06
The New Whitney: An Irreverent Companion Essay for My WSJ Review
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2015-05-06
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Charlie Hebdo Staffers Get Standing Ovation At PEN Gala, Despite Controversy Over Honoring Them
“Two members of Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine, took the stage to a thundering standing ovation at PEN American Center’s literary gala on Tuesday night, capping a 10-day debate over free speech, blasphemy and Islamophobia that started in the cozy heart of the New York literary world and spread to social media and op-ed pages worldwide.”
Tax Break On Selling And Then Buying Land Is Being (Ab)Used By Art Collectors Flipping Paintings
“Now, this little-known provision in the tax code, known as a like-kind exchange, has become a popular tactic for a new niche of investors: buyers of high-end art who want to put off – and sometimes completely avoid – federal taxes when upgrading their Diebenkorns for Rothkos.”
Alessandra Ferri is Still Dancing Lead Roles At 52
“Only a handful of ballerinas have danced into their 50s, and … Ferri said she hoped to blaze a trail for older dancers but suggested that the over-40s face age discrimination in the ballet world. Younger choreographers ‘are unable to see that you are unique and to enjoy that fact. Some of them hardly even look at you in the rehearsal studio.'”
The Onion Is Turning Into A Digital Media Empire – And Doing It Better Than The Media It Makes Fun Of
“Now, The Onion is not just a comedy website. Onion Inc. cannot be described, simply, as a publisher. It has been transformed into a bonafide digital media company – with a profitable, in-house advertising agency in tow – that wants to succeed where the targets of its barbs have not.