“Pinteresque, Dickensian, Shakespearean. Not many writers are so distinctive and influential that their name becomes an adjective in its own right. J. G. Ballard, who died yesterday morning after a long battle with cancer at the age of 79 [sic], was one of them.” Among his prominent works are Empire of the Sun, High Rise, Crash and The Atrocity Exhibition.
Author: Matthew Westphal
As If Pride And Prejudice And Zombies Weren’t Enough
“The author currently enjoying a surprise hit with [that] new literary genre of monster remix, … writer Seth Grahame-Smith has landed a rumoured $575,000 (£390,000) deal with a major US publisher that will entail writing the life of Abraham Lincoln, vampire hunter.”
Primate Food Critics
“Bonobos yell out their food ratings using at least five distinct vocalizations, the study found. Since the calls are tonally similar to certain other primate sounds, such as the human exclamations ‘Yum!’ and ‘Ewww,’ the scientists think there might be a somewhat universal primate language when it comes to food.”
NY City Opera Spends Two Thirds Of Endowment
“The New York City Opera said on Friday that it had raided its endowment of a total of $23.5 million to pay off debts and right the troubled company’s finances, leaving little left in its coffers. … [T]he company’s endowment now stands at $10.4 million.”
The Thoreau You Didn’t Learn About In School
“It’s time to pack the old Thoreau – austere, high-minded, solitary – in mothballs and break out the new. This new model … is a wisecracking, subversive, entrepreneurial party boy, as likely to dance a jig and break into song as preach at you.”
Oh, For The Books We’ve Lost
“The main fun of [Stuart Kelly’s} The Book of Lost Books is deciding which text you would have back from oblivion if you could pick only one.” Let’s see: Shakespeare’s Love’s Labors Won, Lord Byron’s memoirs, the Hemingway stories in his wife’s lost suitcase, Confucius’s Book of Music, and who-knows-what-treasures from the ancient library at Alexandria …
Antique Art Market Suffering From Lack Of Supply
“In the art market as in war, the worst danger is often unexpected. Professionals dreaded the decline of demand in the current recessionary gloom and it did not happen. The market is as bullish as ever. It is the drying up of supplies that is threatening to cause havoc.”
Journalists, Do Unto Google As You Would Have Others Do Unto You
“If you go by the journalist’s own logic, then the truth is that they are exploiting the newsmakers they cover. After all, it’s really the newsmakers who are ‘creating’ the story, and all the journalists are doing is writing up an account of it, for commercial purposes, and not rewarding the newsmakers who make their jobs possible in the first place.”
Director John McTiernan Indicted For Perjury
“A Hollywood film director who pleaded guilty three years ago to lying to the FBI in connection with the Anthony Pellicano investigation, then withdrew his plea, was indicted Friday by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles.”
Brooklyn Phil Calls (Almost) The Whole Thing Off
“The Brooklyn Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra [sic] has canceled its remaining concert this season and its entire 2009-10 season for the full orchestra because of a drop in donations.” The orchestra will continue its education programs (which are already funded) and Michael Christie will remain as music director.