“The 64-page unpublished document, In Memory of Olivia Susan Clemens – and later called A Family Sketch – gives a touchingly intimate portrait of his daughter that readers of Twain’s rambunctious adventure stories will find unfamiliar.” Susy, as she was called, died of spinal meningitis at age 24.
Tag: 04.21.10
Helen Mirren Defends The Honor of Old Blighty
“Speaking of the image Americans have of British people, Dame Helen said: ‘It’s very important to let Americans know that we’re not just the royal family, there’s a lot more to us than that. I love the idiosyncrasy of the British people, I love the eccentric nature of the British people, their boldness in fashion and I think the Brits have a very good eye for taste. … It’s just nice to say we’re not snooty, stuck up, malevolent, malignant creatures as we’re so often portrayed. We’re actually kind of cool and hip!”’
We Need More Good Novels About Volcanoes
Andrew McGahan: “Certainly one thing that bothers me about most such stories is that they tend to be about one or two heroic individuals’ victory over the natural disaster. … Why, I’ve often wondered, can’t natural disasters be the main characters in their own right? Why can’t they be the heroes for a change, rather than the bad guys?”
Hilary Mantel And The Orange Prize: What Are The Odds?
“The bookmaker William Hill installed Wolf Hall as the 2-1 favourite, just as it did after an extraordinary flurry of bets on the novel followed the Booker nominations last year. The smart money, however, should perhaps go elsewhere.”
Jukebox Musicals Elbow Creativity Out Of The Way
“The urge to be commercially successful has driven producers to rely on tried-and-true material that boomers are likely to relate to and it’s resulted in a lot of projects high on energy and entertainment, but low on originality and serious content.”
Colm Toibin Stares Down Marina Abramovic
“It was important, I thought, to do the gazing as intelligently as possible. I knew that she would not smile, or descend into shyness. She would only look. … It was like being brought into a room in Enniscorthy when I was a child on the day after a neighbour had died and being allowed to look at the corpse’s face.”
In Federal Court, Explicating Marlene Dumas’ ‘Blacklist’
“In detailed testimony, [New York art dealer Jack] Tilton explained his knowledge about how the list was administered and revealed prominent names that were on the list, including major collectors (like Richard Cooper and Daniel Holtz), dealers (like Marc Jancou), and David Zwirner, who began representing her in 2008.”
Seldes, Ayckbourn To Get Lifetime Tony Awards
Actress Marian Seldes will get her second Tony, this one for lifetime achievement, at the June 13 awards ceremony. “Also receiving a lifetime Tony will be Sir Alan Ayckbourn, the British playwright whose [comic trilogy] ‘The Norman Conquests’ won the award for best revival of a play last year.”
Surviving Picasso: Three Women Who Actually Did So
Alastair Sooke: “Yet three women, all of whom were intimately involved with the artist during the 1950s, survived the experience of flying close to the sun that was Picasso. While filming Modern Masters, I met them all: Françoise Gilot, Geneviève Laporte and Sylvette David.”
Hollywood Descends On Oz (No, Not Australia)
“All [of Frank] Baum’s 14 stories about Oz are now out of copyright, meaning that anyone with the means to shoot a movie is free to pilfer from them.” Disney is preparing a prequel, Oz the Great and Powerful (with Sam Mendes directing Robert Downey Jr.). Two CGI versions are in progress, as is a modern-day New York adaptation with Christopher Lloyd as the Wizard.