A network of latter-day surrealophiles is objecting to the impending sale of surrealist Andre Breton’s collections at auction. “While the collection will be preserved on a CD-ROM, the signers of the petition insist that the contents of Breton’s jumbled anti-museum make sense “together and only together.” They call upon France to establish a permanent place to house this collection which, represents ‘the history of a powerful mind, whose creativity, imagination, and moral indignation” were directed toward “the singular possibility of changing life and transforming the world according to the life-affirming movement of desire.”
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A Tale Of Two Concertos
To conductor James Levine’s way of thinking, there is plenty of important American music from the 20th Century that never had fair hearing. So he looks upon his new appointment as director of the Boston Symphony as a way to do something about it. “One of the principal attractions for Levine is that he will finally have the opportunity to serve as an advocate for contemporary music, and American music in particular. For him, this has been a lifelong commitment, but none of his previous positions has enabled him to pursue it fully.”
Building Brands, Building Audiences
Getting the word out about your arts orgainzation is not just a matter of printing brochures, making banners and producing marketing spots. The modern arts organization is a brand, and that takes careful management. Too crassly commercial, you’re thinking? Boston clients of one communications firm think not. “There are no contradiction between that kind of ‘corporate’ thinking and artistic risk-taking. Quite the contrary. If people get to recognize the organization, we will get to take more risks.”
Granta’s List Of Britain’s Best Young Novelists
Granta’s one-a-decade list of Britain’s best young novelists always creates a stir. “The list, like all literary prizes, is an attempt to bypass market imperfections, and is loved and loathed by publishers, who are inclined to dismiss it as irrelevant when they aren’t included, and to applaud its detachment and authority when they are.” This year’s list has its critics and defenders. “So were there any shoo-ins? Several judges mentioned, unsurprisingly, Zadie Smith.”
UK Police Accuse Rappers Of Promoting Gun Violence
Police have charged that British rap artists are promoting gun culture and creating a “backdrop of music” for influencing alienated young men. Police are calling for an emergency summit with the rap industry, after two teenage girls were killed over New Year’s in crossfire between rival gangs.
Former KGB Spies Offer Anti-Piracy Plan
A group of foermer KGB spies is offering recording companies a new “watermarking” technology to protect their music from music pirates. This month a music distrbutor “will introduce watermarking technology developed by former Russian spies in St Petersburg, in the hope of attracting more music companies on to the web.
British Culture Minister Attacks Rap Music
Fresh from condemning Turner Prize shortlisters, British culture minister Kim Howells has attacked British rappers. “For years I have been very worried about these hateful lyrics that these boasting macho idiot rappers come out with. It is a big cultural problem. Lyrics don’t kill people but they don’t half enhance the fare we get from videos and films. It has created a culture where killing is almost a fashion accessory.” Th tirade, delivered on live radio, was quickly labeled “deeply racist” by the rap community.
20 Years Later – What Does A List Mean?
A list’s still a list. Yes there are stars from the previous Granta lists. But “the somewhat sadder message conveyed by the yellowing old photos of 1983 and 1993 is that many of these writers, while in middle age still going through the motions of publishing a novel every few years, are not what they were.”
Struggle Behind The Publishing Of A Lost Tolkien Manuscript
The medieval studies professor who discovered and edited a lost manuscript by JRR Tolkien, says dealing with Tolkien’s fans was arduous over the six years it took to prepare the manuscript. “It was unfortunate that there were some obsessive fans who “whose attention one attracts by working on anything related to Tolkien. The sheer number of people who were trying to profit from Tolkien’s work was astonishing, and the problems with copyright violation and outright theft were like nothing I had ever encountered in medieval studies.”
What Paperbacks Sold Last Year
What were 2002’s hottest UK paperback sellers? John Grisham leads the list, as expected. And there were an awful lot of manufactured celebrity books. Some 30 million paperbacks were sold in the UK in 2002, about the same as in 2001, but nearly three million down on 2001 (there was a new Harry Potter that year). Still, it’s estimated that fewer than 50 percent of Britons ever buy a book. Here’s the list of paperbacks most sold…