“Philosopher Alva Noë explores ideas in a new book that suggests consciousness and self is best looked at by combining insight from Western science, Indian philosophy and contemplative practices.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Mystery Of Mrs. Oscar Wilde’s Death May Be Solved
“Merlin Holland, grandson of the Irish wit and author of The Importance of Being Earnest and Lady Windermere’s Fan, has unearthed medical evidence within private family letters, which has enabled a doctor to determine the likely cause of Constance’s demise.”
Sony Expands Release Of “The Interview”, In Theaters And Digitally
“Sony Pictures Entertainment announced Wednesday that it would continue its rollout of The Interview by adding new video-on-demand platforms, pay-per-view services and about 200 more theaters.”
It Took Four Days For “The Interview” To Become Sony’s All-Time Top-Grossing Digital Release
“The Interview, the Sony Pictures movie that was pulled from theaters after threats from a group of hackers, has earned the studio $15 million in online rentals and purchases in the four days since it was made available last week. It also brought in nearly $3 million from theater screenings.”
African And Black Writers Need To Liberate Themselves From “Mental Tyranny”, Says Ben Okri
The Nigerian novelist argues that “black and African writers are read for their novels about slavery, colonialism, poverty, civil wars, imprisonment, female circumcision – in short, for subjects that reflect the troubles of Africa and black people as perceived by the rest of the world. They are defined by their subjects. The black and African writer is expected to write about certain things, and if they don’t they are seen as irrelevant.”
African And Black Writers Need No Instructions From Ben Okri On Liberating Their Minds And Their Subject Matter
Somali-American literary scholar Sofia Samatar: “It’s beyond depressing to hear a writer of Okri’s stature, who himself writes powerfully about overwhelming subjects, board this broken-down train. … If, as Okri insists, ‘we must not let anyone define what we write’, why should black and African writers listen to Ben Okri? The essay’s demands and commands make it impossible to read as the expression of a quest for freedom.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 01.01.15
New Year’s Eve With Ellington
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Charles Ives as Improviser
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Whatever happened to Archie Bunker?
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2015-01-01
2014 Book List
AJBlog: blog riley Published 2014-12-31
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Annie Proulx Wishes She’d Never Written “Brokeback Mountain”
“I wish I’d never written the story. It’s just been the cause of hassle and problems and irritation since the film came out. … One of the reasons we keep the gates locked here is that a lot of men have decided that the story should have had a happy ending. They can’t bear the way it ends – they just can’t stand it.”
“Creative Entrepreneur” Or No, The Artist Is Definitely Not Dead Yet
Robinson Meyer hits back at William Deresiewicz’s jeremiad: “His reading suffers a tremendous flaw: Deresiewicz cannot discriminate the substantial from the faddish. What’s more, his historical work is incomplete – he mistakes a very new idea for a very old one. Deresiewicz’s artistic philosophy aspires to timelessness, but it’s younger than most of his Millennial subjects.”
Is Social Media Killing The Professional Critic?
Mmmm-maybe …