“Roth can comfort himself with the fact that a roll call of literary fiction’s great and good, from Booker winner John Banville to acclaimed Israeli novelist Amos Oz, Goncourt winner Jonathan Littell and Whitbread winner Paul Theroux,” are also in competition this year for the Literary Review’s bad sex in fiction award.
Tag: 11.18.09
For A Cowboy Ex-President, Stern Designs A Quiet Library
“Architectural plans released today for the $250-million, 225,000-square-foot George W. Bush Presidential Center, to be built at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, carry no hint of the swagger, bravado or taste for confrontation that Bush was known for as president.” Rather, Robert A.M. Stern’s design is handsome and contextual.
If Day-Lewis Has Two Left Feet, Nine Viewers Won’t Know
Daniel Day-Lewis told Oprah “that he managed to avoid dancing in a movie directed by Rob Marshall, who happens to be an accomplished Broadway choreographer. That’s kind of like signing up for swimming lessons and then not getting in the water.”
Publishing’s Budding Romance With The ‘Book Trailer’
“In embracing the term, the publishing industry helps itself to some Hollywood glamour. And in avoiding the most obviously appropriate word for these commercials–that is, commercials–sacrosanct literature keeps grubby commerce at an arm’s length.”
Lloyd Webber Hospitalized Again
He was readmitted when a “chronic infection” developed after his prostate cancer surgery. “His spokesmen said last month that the cancer was in its early stages and he hoped to return to work before the end of the year. But an update on his website said he now hoped to be back in the New Year.”
Deal With Shuberts Guarantees Producers A B’way House
In an uncommon agreement with the producers of “A Steady Rain,” the Shubert Organization will invest in their projects and guarantee them a Shubert house. The deal gives the producers “a strong advantage on the Main Stem, where real estate is a hot commodity and numerous incoming productions vie for a limited number of available theaters.”
What Are The Rules For Being A Good Critic?
“Bloggers are wondering just that this week as Charles Spencer, the Telegraph‘s chief theatre critic, kicked the discussion off … ‘The critic’s obligations can be summed up very briefly,’ he writes. ‘Arrive sober, stay awake, stay to the end and don’t take a bribe unless it is big enough to allow you to retire in comfort for the rest of your life’.” Is that really all?
Royal Winnipeg Ballet Feels The Pull Of The Cancan
In its 120 years, the Moulin Rouge has evolved from “essentially a dancing brothel” to a music hall to Gallic neo-vaudeville for tourists. But the hall’s constant is “the cancan, a strenuous chorus-line number in 2/4 time that demands balance, rhythm and stamina. It is popular entertainment incarnate, which is what drew Royal Winnipeg Ballet artistic director Andre Lewis to the Moulin Rouge as the theme for a new full-length story ballet.”
Britain’s National Theatre Plans £50M Renovation
“The National Theatre has confirmed the initial details of its £50 million plan to modernise its Grade II-listed London home. The scheme, designed by architects Haworth Tompkins, will aim to improve the ‘transparency’ of the building.”
U.Cal. Berkeley Abandons Plans For New Art Museum
“A shortage of funds has prompted UC Berkeley to abandon its plan to construct a new Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive downtown. The building, a distinctive and innovative design by Tokyo architect Toyo Ito estimated to cost $143 million, was to replace the museum’s present, seismically endangered quarters on Bancroft Way, completed in 1970.”