I’ve begun something new: The Typewriter Project. Inspired by the acquisition of a Smith-Cornona Coronamatic 2500, I’ll be writing at least two pages a day on this noisy, strange, glorious machine. The goal: a draft of a book in six months. What kind of book? I have no idea. The premise: One writer. One grand…Continue reading The Typewriter Project
Category: Ephemera
Book Two of My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgaard (A Man in Love)
Book Two of Norwegian writer Karl Ove Knausgaard’s six-volume memoir, My Struggle, recently published by Archipilego Books in Brooklyn–is a bit of a puzzle. First, there is the controversy of the title. Publishers around the world have tried to find clever ways to deal with the negative associations with Mein Kampf. Then, there is the question…Continue reading Book Two of My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgaard (A Man in Love)
Is Star Trek Into Darkness okay for kids?
Is Star Trek Into Darkness appropriate for kids? Like so many movies these days that should be good family fun, Star Trek Into Darkness is rated PG-13 instead of PG. The first two thirds of the movie, you’ll probably wonder why. There’s an odd moment when Captain Kirk is called out of bed, and his…Continue reading Is Star Trek Into Darkness okay for kids?
The Copyright Problem: Three Myths That Are Killing Literary Culture
1. Writers just want to be read. I recently heard a young woman at a party say that writers don’t mind when their books are downloaded for free on the internet, because “writers just want to be read.” As a working writer who pays my mortgage and buys groceries and sends my kid to summer…Continue reading The Copyright Problem: Three Myths That Are Killing Literary Culture
Book to Movie: Atonement
The first book-to-movie that really blew me away was The Comfort of Strangers, the 1991 Paul Schrader film based on Ian McEwan’s novel of the same name. Starring Christopher Walken and Natasha Richardson, the film perfectly captures the eerie, moody journey through Venice’s nighttime streets that made McEwan’s slim, violent, and erotically charged novella so…Continue reading Book to Movie: Atonement