Hugo Schwyzer: “The questions that self-pleasure raises are foundational: to whom do our bodies belong? What is sex for? Tell me how you really feel about masturbation, and I can more or less predict how you’ll feel about the more frequently debated ‘sex war’ issues.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Alec Baldwin Says Movies Are Abandoning Great Acting To Television
“When I started out in the early 80s, two-thirds of the movies made were very cast specific, meaning: ‘We need that woman to play the psychiatrist and that man to play the judge.’ Now that’s down to one quarter. … Cable TV is the bastion of great acting now.”
Florida Grand Opera Can’t Find Stage Big Enough For Tristan
“Florida Grand Opera has postponed Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde for a season and will be performing Massenet’s Thaïs in its place for the 2013-2014 season. The decision to wait was made when the company could not find large enough stages in Miami and Fort Lauderdale.”
‘A Terrible Evil’: Edgar Allan Poe Writes About His Wife’s Illness and Death
“In a passage buried deep in this long letter full of business chatter and gossip, Edgar Allan Poe recounts the story of his wife Virginia’s 1847 death from tuberculosis and describes his own desperate reaction” – and reveals some insight into his own use of alcohol.
L.A.’s UnCabaret At 25
For a quarter-century, “it’s been a place to hear unvarnished, rough-edged ideas being tried out … It brought in funny people from the huge Hollywood talent pool … and freed them to talk about things in their own lives.” Founder Beth Lapides’s key instruction to performers: “When you get onstage, do the material that, if you don’t do it, your head is going to explode.”
Legendary Picasso Catalogue Returns To Print
“Comprising 33 volumes and more than 16,000 images,” Pablo Picasso – known in the art world as “the Zervos” – “was the result of an intense four-decade collaboration between the artist and [scholar/dealer Christian] Zervos.”
Composer Henri Dutilleux, 97
“Known for his symphonies, concertos and other orchestral pieces, he was prized for his subtle blends of ear-catching colors and formal rigor. Though steeped in the French modernist tradition that spans Debussy through Messiaen and Boulez, Dutilleux was also notably independent minded, unwilling to chase the latest fashions.”
Lydia Davis Wins Man Booker International Prize For Her (Very) Short Stories
“Davis – who has only written one novel – beat out a shortlist of 10 contenders for the 60,000-pound ($90,800) prize that included two authors banned in their home countries, the youngest ever nominee and one shortlisted for the second time.” The American author won “for a body of work that includes some of the briefest tales ever published.”
Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2013 To Bakker’s The Detour
“Dutch writer Gerbrand Bakker has won this year’s £10,000 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize with his novel The Detour … It is the author’s second major literary prize win; his previous novel, The Twin, won the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 2010.”
Scotland’s Oldest Theatre is Saved
“The Theatre Royal in Dumfries, which has been in operation for more than 200 years, has been given £455,000 by Dumfries and Galloway Council. The grant … will allow the theatre to be refurbished and additional facilities installed.”