HBO is developing a new series that we have to hope is science fiction: “Set 25 to 40 years in the future, when the precipitous decline of the U.S. leads to a mass exodus of its citizens, Americatown centers on a cluster of newly arrived American immigrants in a big foreign city.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Do Maya Lin’s Earthworks Make Sense When They’re Not Memorials?
“With this new piece [‘Storm King Wavefield’], her career seems bracketed by works whose successes and failures depend as much on whom they’re for as how they look.”
The Poetry of Sarah Palin
Intrepid literary gold miner Hart Seely finds that the vice-presidential nominee is following in the surrealist tradition of such modern Republican poets as Donald Rumsfeld.
But Can You Diagram Her Sentences?
“There are plenty of people out there–not only English teachers but also amateur language buffs like me–who believe that diagramming a sentence provides insight into the mind of its perpetrator… just about any sentence can be diagrammed, even when it is gibberish.”
Chinese Pianist Plays Bovine Sex Club
Relax, it’s a bar. Following the trail blazed by Matt Haimovitz, 24-year-old Haiou Zhang is making his Toronto solo debut this Friday at the popular goth/punk/rockabilly boîte.
The New Larry Flynt?
“[Joe] Redner is the multimillionaire owner of the [strip club] Mons [Venus] and self-described ‘father of the nude lap dance.’ But after waging years of tireless (and colorful) campaigns on behalf of civil rights, he’s achieved the unlikeliest title of all: political folk hero.”
The Tears of (Illegal Alien) Clowns
“At last, a play for the Moldovan balloon wrangler in all of us.” The new Off-Broadway play Aliens with Extraordinary Skills depicts a pair of Eastern European clowns who “come to America… attached to a circus that would provide them with gainful employment if only it existed anywhere but on their visa applications.”
The Yves Saint-Laurent Collection (of Art) Now Available
“A massive collection of art amassed by the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent is expected to fetch up to $452 million at auction, Christie’s has announced… The several hundred pieces going on sale include works by Picasso, Goya, Matisse and Mondrian, as well as drawings, art deco pieces, sculptures and antique furniture.”
50 Years of Merce Onstage
“The US choreographer is now 89, and makes his post-show stage appearances in a wheelchair. But, having pretty much reinvented human movement over many decades and more than 200 elliptical works, he remains, as ever, at the absolute cutting-edge of contemporary dance.”
There Are Worse Things That Could Happen to a Writer –
– than seeing her book remaindered. “And although the author will receive minimal – if any – royalties on these sales, it’s not all bad. A good presence in the bargain bookshops will mean exposure to the sorts of readers who might not frequent Waterstone’s… [and] it’s got to be better than getting pulped.”