Rebecca Mead: “[The] view that any book that is avidly embraced can serve as a gateway to an enduring love of reading is surely true … But the metaphor of the gateway should prompt caution, too, since one can go through a gate in two directions.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Top Posts From AJBlogs 10.22.14
Stop Working For Free
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2014-10-22
Fear of Learning
AJBlog: PostClassic Published 2014-10-22
A Very Ambitious, Private, New Museum For Miami
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2014-10-22
Rembrandt Late Style: the Greatest Show on Earth?
AJBlog: Plain English Published 2014-10-22
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London Theatre Critic Loses Unfair Dismissal Case
“Mark Shenton, former theatre critic of the Sunday Express, has lost his employment tribunal against the paper for unfair dismissal and sexual discrimination.” The panel ruled that Shenton was, under UK employment law, a freelancer rather than an employee.
Backstage Workers’ Union To London’s West End: Make A Better Offer Within Ten Days Or We Strike
“BECTU has been in talks with the Society of London Theatre since July over pay, and wants a deal that includes London living wage – £8.80 – as a minimum for workers on three pay grades that are below that rate, with a 6% rise for all of its other members.” The theatres’ latest offer, a 1.8% raise, was rejected by 97.8% of voters.
Grumpy People Get The Details Right (Well, That Explains A Few Things)
“Feisty personalities, although unpleasant, can be tremendously effective. … You’re probably avoiding this strategy because you think that being negative is, well, negative. … The good news is that a whole range of negativity – of beneficial negativity, mind you – has nothing to do with being a jerk.
How Countess Tolstoy Answered Her Husband’s Most Notorious Novella
“There are two novellas by Sofiya: Whose Fault?, the story of a jealous husband who murders his innocent wife, and Song Without Words, about a depressed married woman who becomes obsessed with a composer and his music, and eventually checks herself into a ‘nerve clinic.’ Song Without Words is a response to The Kreutzer Sonata; Whose Fault? is a systematic rebuttal.”
Art Saved His Life, And Now He’s Using Art To Help Save Other Homeless People
“If art comes from pain, then James Webster is Michelangelo. He’s suffered from depression, alcoholism, and stroke. He’s been arrested for assault, divorced by two women, and beaten with bats by gangs, and he lived homeless in North Philadelphia for a year. … These days, Webster helps teach art to homeless people at Project HOME, the nationally known Philadelphia nonprofit.”
An Arab, Two Jews, And A Copy-Editor See “The Death Of Klinghoffer” Together
Literature professor Moustafa Bayoumi, social media producer and Orthodox Jew Kayla Epstein, cartoonist Eli Valley, and Guardian copy editor Alan Yuhas give their verdicts on the opera – and the sound and fury surrounding it. (Spoiler alert: none of them think it glorifies terrorists.)
Jury Rejects Oklahoma Ballet Dancer’s Suit For Wrongful Arrest
“A jury has ruled against a ballet dancer with a bad hip who sued Oklahoma City over his arrest in a park, where he was exercising in high heels with his cane. The woman who saw Allen Galbreath and called police testified she was concerned for the safety of her grandchildren.”
Whatever You Get Out Of That Arts Degree, It Probably Won’t Be Well-Paid Employment (So Says The Data)
“There’s one very clear take-away from the latest report released by the collective BFAMFAPhD: … ‘the fantasy of future earnings in the arts cannot justify the high cost of degrees’.” Alexis Clements crunches the numbers.