Fiction Truer Than Fact: A Haunting Autobiographical Novel Sarah Manguso's latest book is called The Guardians. I like autobiographies that approach their subjects insidiously. My favorite ones begin as a study of someone or something else. Sylvia grew from an autobiographical essay into a novella subtitled A Fictional Memoir. "The brush swept down and ripped free until, abruptly, she quit brushing, stepped into the living room, dropped onto the couch, leaned back against the brick wall, and went totally limp. The woman is Sylvia Bloch, indeed the name of the author's first wife, described in the book as "abnormally bright" but prone to violent rages, "like a madwoman imitating a college student." Leonard presents the compulsive love affair alongside his own compulsive record of it. hide captionSarah Manguso is also the author of The Two Kinds of Decay. Courtesy Farrar, Straus & Giroux Sarah Manguso is also the author of The Two Kinds of Decay. Though the book contains more rumination than plot, the ending is as shocking as that of any thriller.
131 – US States Renamed For Countries With Similar GDPs | Strange Maps by Frank Jacobs Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a convenient way of measuring and comparing the size of national economies. Annual GDP represents the market value of all goods and services produced within a country in a year. Put differently: GDP = consumption + investment + government spending + (exports – imports) Although the economies of countries like China and India are growing at an incredible rate, the US remains the nation with the highest GDP in the world – and by far: US GDP is projected to be $13,22 trillion (or $13.220 billion) in 2007, according to this source. The creator of this map has had the interesting idea to break down that gigantic US GDP into the GDPs of individual states, and compare those to other countries’ GDP. Pakistan, for example, has a GDP that’s slightly higher than Israel’s – but Pakistan has a population of about 170 million, while Israel is only 7 million people strong. This map was suggested by Morgan via strangemaps@gmail.com, and can be found here.
The 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written (book) The 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written: The History of Thought from Ancient Times to Today (1998) is a book of intellectual history written by Martin Seymour-Smith, a British poet, critic, and biographer.[1] The list included the books such as, Upanishads, Hebrew Bible, I Ching, Kabbalah, Candide, The World as Will and Idea, among others. See also[edit] References[edit] Jump up ^ Seymour-Smith, Martin (1998). External links[edit] The list 100 questions for a better conversation Have you ever been at a party or on a blind date only to find yourself with nothing to say? It’s an awkward feeling; still no one is stepping up to ride the room of silence. Thankfully, you’ll never have to experience that situation again. Next time, all you’ll have to do is ask a question. The fine folks at The School of Life have created One Hundred Questions as a kind of conversation starter-kit. Topics include: Personality & EmotionsSex & RelationshipsFamily & FriendshipWork & MoneyTravel, Culture & TasteLife & Death One Hundred Questions | School of Life Who said that there had to be an absolute answer for each and every question?
Shakespeare Insult Kit Shakespeare Insult Kit Since 1996, the origin of this kit was listed as anonymous. It came to me on a piece of paper in the 90's with no attribution, and I thought it would make a cool web page. Though I searched for the origin, I could never find it. Combine one word from each of the three columns below, prefaced with "Thou": My additions: cullionly whoreson knave fusty malmsey-nosed blind-worm caluminous rampallian popinjay wimpled lily-livered scullian burly-boned scurvy-valiant jolt-head misbegotten brazen-faced malcontent odiferous unwash'd devil-monk poisonous bunch-back'd toad fishified leaden-footed rascal Wart-necked muddy-mettled Basket-Cockle pigeon-liver'd scale-sided Back to the insulter. Chris Seidel
How I Outgrew Libertarianism I was a Libertarian in college. I even volunteered for the 1980 Ed Clark/David Koch (yes, that David Koch) Libertarian party presidential campaign. As promised, the following is the story of how I outgrew Libertarianism. 1. Furthermore, real Libertarianism isn't socio-economic Darwinism. "Let the most ruthless grab all the gold, and hope someone patches up the wounded later" didn't strike me as a cause I could get behind. 2. But every century or so eggheads proclaim some smug new utopian plan (which always sounds great on paper) destined to create a permanent steady state of prosperity and happiness. 3. I envisioned myself in such a scenario, making decisions, expending energy, and using my resourcefulness to compete. Here's the problem with "thinking it all through": You may have been following my series, "Bubbles, Slogs, and Selling Out", the story of how I sold Chowhound to CNET (now CBS). None of those things were true of the people around me.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Chapter One A SQUAT grey building of only thirty-four stories. Over the main entrance the words, CENTRAL LONDON HATCHERY AND CONDITIONING CENTRE, and, in a shield, the World State's motto, COMMUNITY, IDENTITY, STABILITY. The enormous room on the ground floor faced towards the north. "And this," said the Director opening the door, "is the Fertilizing Room." Bent over their instruments, three hundred Fertilizers were plunged, as the Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning entered the room, in the scarcely breathing silence, the absent-minded, soliloquizing hum or whistle, of absorbed concentration. "Just to give you a general idea," he would explain to them. "To-morrow," he would add, smiling at them with a slightly menacing geniality, "you'll be settling down to serious work. Meanwhile, it was a privilege. Tall and rather thin but upright, the Director advanced into the room. "Bokanovsky's Process," repeated the Director, and the students underlined the words in their little notebooks. Mr.
Famous Last Words: Our 20 Favorite Final Lines in Literature Endings, as we all know, are important. An entire novel can be ruined by a disappointing ending, but by the same token, an entire novel can be made by a wonderful one. We’ve already given you a rundown of our favorite opening lines in literature, but since every beginning needs an ending (and you’d be surprised at how many works with awesome first lines also have awesome last lines – or perhaps you wouldn’t be surprised), we feel compelled to treat you to a list of our favorite last lines as well. Click through for 20 of our favorite endings from our bookshelf of classic and contemporary greats, and let us know your own picks for best last lines in the comments. 1. Best pessimistic diagnosis of a resigned and wistful generation: “Yes,” I said. 2. Most delicate ending to a delicate, harrowing story about the different kinds of humanity and grace: “Shut up, Bobby Lee,” The Misfit said. 3. Best reason to go adventuring in Wonderland: 4. Don’t ever tell anybody anything. 5. 6. 7. 8. 10. 11.
10 great science fiction novels that have been banned @djscruffy: And that's why you're a heathen and should be burned at the stake. @djscruffy: In defense of public schools, I would suggest that the reason many of these books are challenged so often is that they're frequently included in school curriculums and libraries. I grew up in a state that, according to these links, engaged in book-burning less than a decade before my birth. That makes me shudder. But I'm also the child of a public school teacher and am familiar with my mother's and many of her peers' views on children's reading materials. I suppose I've wandered a bit. @djscruffy: To be fair, it's not usually the schools that want to ban the books, but the few overprotective parents who make wild assumptions about the books we try to teach. Most of us really try to teach the kids to think, rather than becoming nice little automatons.
11 Literary References People Make Without Realizing It But I made the category for a reason -- to class up this joint -- so I'm sticking with it. And this should be a pretty accessible list: Literary references that we all make... without realizing, remembering or knowing they're actually literary references. To keep the list "pure," I shied away from any literary references that only really became popular because of movies based on books. Big Brother. 12 of Stephen Fry's Wise, Witty Quotations Stephen Fry is an actor, writer, poet, TV host, narrator, and for all I know a terrific cook -- the man is so prolific he has a Wikipedia page devoted simply to listing his works. Through all of his work he weaves threads of good humor, keen intellect, and a tremendously open attitude about his own life: the result is a tapestry of wit that is eminently quotable, and deserving of careful reading. Below, I've collected my favorite Fry quotations. 1. "The only reason people do not know much is because they do not care to know. From The Fry Chronicles (Kindle Locations 1265-1266). 2. "This is the point. From Fry's Twitter account. 3. "... From The Fry Chronicles (Kindle Locations 3852-3857). 4. "What's great about them is that anybody can go into them and find a book and borrow it free of charge and read it. From Fry's March 2001 appearance on Room 101. 5. When asked his opinion about a Dream Catcher: "And astrology: most people will say of astrology, 'Well, it's harmless fun.' Getty Images 6.
Things (Not) to Worry About F. Scott Fitzgerald is a renowned writer back in the 20th century. His novel, The Great Gatsby has been adapted into movies several times since 1926 with the latest installation screening next year, casting big players like Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire (not sure if I will be able to wipe his Spidey image from my head). Apart from being a prominent author, he is also a very wise dad. It struck me right then, how we often over-think about petty stuffs that won’t matter a day, a week, a month from now and instead, overlook the little things that actually matter. I don’t listen to what people say about me and I don’t read what they write about me. Like this: Like Loading...
letters to crushes: #405889 We met over Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I was in Starbucks with my nose buried in the book, and she came over my shoulder and whispered, "Don't Panic!" ...I did. I had never seen anyone so beautiful. "Who are they playing?" "Beethoven and Grieg." They could have been playing anyone and I would have said yes. And that was our first date. Next week, it'll have been forty-two months ago. Next Friday I'm going to ask her to marry me at the Starbucks where we met, right before the orchestra concert we have tickets for. It'll be our forty-two month anniversary, and I'm going to ask her to marry me because she's my answer to life, the universe, and everything. And I won't panic.