Looking At Art Since 9/11

What kind of art has been made since 9/11? Can any conclusions about it yet be made? “Writers, musicians, filmmakers and theater artists have struggled to create art in its shadow — art inspired not only by anger and disbelief but also by the bedrock American values that the terrorists were unsuccessful at toppling. Indeed, what art in the post-9-11 era seems to have in common is a commitment to making sense of an experience that epitomized senselessness.”

Amazon Outs Its Reviewers

Last week, thanks to a technical glitch,Amazon.com’s Canadian site revealed the actual names of customers who wrote reviews on the site. “The weeklong glitch, which Amazon fixed after outed reviewers complained, provided a rare glimpse at how writers and readers are wielding the online reviews as a tool to promote or pan a book — when they think no one is watching.”

Conductor Berates Audience, Musicians From The Stage

Conductor Daniel Gatti and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra had just finished a performance in Naples, Florida and the audience was applauding, when Gatti quieted the crowd: “Gatti, 42, began by apologizing for the quality of the performance, explaining that the orchestra had been on tour for two weeks. Then, in heated, broken English, he berated everybody there – the presenters, the orchestra and the audience – for a full two to three minutes.”

Britain’s Most-Popular Library Books

What books are the British public checking out of libraries? “On the top 100 titles list, the authors who started their careers most recently are JK Rowling and Kathy Reichs (whose debuts came out in 1997 and 1998 respectively); Rowling is the only author under the age of 40. It seems that book borrowers feel that Marian Keyes, Sophie Kinsella, Cathy Kelly and other voguish bookshop favourites will have to pay their dues, so to speak, for a while longer. Nor are borrowers particularly partial to literary fiction.”