Guy Clark, King Of The Texas Troubadours

“‘Stuff that works’ is how Mr. Clark alluded to the rustic images and folk tunes that defined his body of work in his 1995 song bearing that title. ‘Stuff that’s real, stuff you feel,’ he sang in a gruff, half-spoken baritone, ‘the kind of stuff you reach for when you fall.'”

When Advertisers Troll Bigots By Featuring A Gay Or Interracial Family, Everyone Wins

“By now, this is a familiar template: 1. Brand implicitly endorses a mainstream progressive cause. 2. Small band of monsters reacts predictably. 3. Right-thinking Americans rush to embrace and defend the brand. … No matter how the fracas plays out, everybody wins in the end: The trolls get attention, responders get the warm and fuzzy pleasure of combating hate, and the brand comes out looking like a crusader for justice.”

Top Posts From AJBlogs 05.17.16

That Sad, Empty,Yet Hopeful Palestinian Museum
You may have seen the New York Times article headlined Palestinian Museum Prepares to Open, Minus Exhibitions in Tuesday’s paper. It told the sad story of a new museum, … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2016-05-17

Chatting with Playwright Rich Orloff … on Relevance.
What is the value of relevance? As an arts marketer, I believe that relevance is the mandatory price of admission to an audience’s attention. That which is irrelevant is routinely ignored or discarded.  And for artists … read more
AJBlog: Audience Wanted Published 2016-05-17

Who Are the World’s Most Famous People?
You’d be surprised. Martin Luther King, Jr. is the world’s best-known American, followed by — are you ready? — Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Walt Disney, and Ben Franklin. Those are the top five. How do … read more
AJBlog: Straight|Up Published 2016-05-17

Lookback: relativism and its discontents
From 2006: People are forever telling me that a work of art should be “criticized on its own terms.” (Mr. Parabasis, one of my favorite bloggers, got after me a few weeks ago on precisely… … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2016-05-17

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The International Man Booker Prize Goes To A Book About A Woman Whose Vegetarianism Ruins Relationships (And Her Life)

“The novel had an unusual path to publication. Deborah Smith, a 28-year-old British translator, read a Korean edition of ‘The Vegetarian’ about four years ago when she was studying for her Ph.D., and decided to send a sample translation to a British publisher, who was won over by the first 10 pages.”