Says Frank Brinkley of the booby prize’s sponsor, The Literary Review, “Maybe we are having an effect – definitely literary fiction’s changing and the ‘Oh sod it, I’ll put in a sex scene’ attitude that prompted the creation of the award has pretty much fallen by the wayside.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
When These Books Faced Obscenity Trials, What Exactly Was Deemed ‘Obscene’?
Emily Temple: “‘Obscenity,’ after all, is a pretty wide field. It’s obscene, the number of things I’ve called obscene. So what was it? A certain number of bad words? General sexiness? A queasy feeling in the gut by a well-connected reader? I tracked down a few answers for famous books deemed (by some) obscene. Mostly, it’s about bad words – but sometimes it’s also communism!”
This Is The Only Book Ever Banned By The US Supreme Court (And It’s Still Banned Today)
Here’s the story of The Housewife’s Handbook on Selective Promiscuity, the 1960 “sexual autobiography” of “Rey Anthony”, also known as Lillian Maxine Serett.
The Problem With Plays About Campus Sexual Assault: Good Drama Just Isn’t Helpful
Alexis Soloski: “A boy student assaults a girl student. It’s sad, yes. But to quote Shakespeare again, it’s ‘everyday’s news.’ Who wants to write about a victim? It’s depressing. Better to thrill an audience with some he said, she said, right? … We know that sexual assault on college campuses is both epidemic and underreported, in part because women and men who have experienced assault doubt that they will be believed. So is it too much to ask for a play that confirms the truth of an assault? Or suggests that a victim wasn’t somehow asking for it?”
Pentagon Takes Away Gitmo Prisoners’ Rights To Their Own Art
“The military has decided that art made by wartime captives [at Guantanamo Bay] is U.S. government property and has stopped releases of security-screened prisoner art to the public. One attorney says the U.S. military intends to burn cellblock art. The new source of tension in the 41-captive prison is stirring a fundamental question: Who owns art? The state or the artist?”
Rasta Thomas Sues American National Ballet For Firing Him
“[Thomas] signed a contract on July 19 making him artistic director of the nascent American National Ballet, based in Charleston. The news sent a buzz of excitement through the dance community. On Aug. 22, he was fired. … This month, Thomas filed a lawsuit in circuit court alleging breach of contract, fraud, violation of South Carolina’s Payment of Wages Act, wrongful appropriation of Thomas’ name and likeness, and interference with a contract.”
Composer Bent Sørensen Wins $100K Grawemeyer Award
“The prize was given for his triple concerto L’isola della Città (The Island in the City), for violin, cello and piano. The five-movement work (played through continuously) was written for the Danish ensemble Trio Con Brio and The Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and was premiered in Copenhagen in January 2016.” (includes video)
Soprano Carol Neblett, 71
Dubbed “the world’s sexiest soprano” by People magazine in 1975, “Ms. Neblett was a supremely confident and, to many critics, supremely talented singer and actress, known for her charming, often sensual portrayals of comic characters and dramatic heroines.” She made operatic history in 1973 as the first opera singer to appear in full-frontally nude onstage.
Jazz Singer Jon Hendricks, Of Lambert, Hendricks And Ross, Dead At 96
“Once dubbed the ‘poet laureate of jazz,’ Mr. Hendricks expanded the vocabulary of jazz singing as the leading exponent of a style known as vocalese. He wrote witty lyrics for dozens of jazz tunes that otherwise had no words. Moreover, as a vocalist, he performed at breakneck speed, winning the admiration of such jazz giants as pianist Art Tatum and saxophonist Charlie Parker.”
Italian Court Clamps Down On Commercial Use Of Michelangelo’s David
“His are the most famous curves in Florence and adorn everything from aprons to fridge magnets, but images of Michelangelo’s David can now only be used with official authorisation, a court in Italy has ruled.”