“Eminence is the one universal precondition to being a commencement speaker, and an implied (often explicit) theme of the speeches is, ‘Here lieth the path to success and happiness.’ There are two problems with this formula. The first is that any narrative of success is bound to be at least a little bit dull. The second is that successful people are almost never able to pinpoint what it was that made them so. […] Failure, on the other hand, is Harvard, Yale, and the University of Heidelberg rolled into one.”
Tag: 05.18.09
Gabriel García Márquez Has ‘Mythomania’ (And That’s OK)
Sure, the standard-bearer of Latin American magic realism has, in the retelling, exaggerated mythologized any number of incidents from his own life. But “[j]ust because the miracle didn’t happen as the nifty story says it did doesn’t mean there wasn’t a miracle.”
Ambiguous Resolution Is A Theatre-Audience Favorite
“Art that bewilders one generation becomes accessible to the next; or so it would seem.” The explanation for this is partly “a natural process: the true artist is always ahead of the game and the public takes time to catch up. … But there is more to it than the depth-charge effect of great drama. Along with the erosion of the old certainties and the belief that life is explicable in religious or philosophical terms has gone a total revolution in the form of drama.”
Ban Dancing To Karaoke, And Drug Problem Disappears!
The government of Vietnam “wants to ban dancing at karaoke bars in what reports have said is a bid to limit drug use.” Clubgoers and staffers say the rule would be unworkable, and it would get in the way of relaxation.
Supreme Court Won’t Hear Steinbeck Rights Case
“The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by a son of author John Steinbeck over the publishing rights to ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ and other early works. The court said Monday it won’t disturb a ruling by the federal appeals court in New York that the rights belong to Penguin Group Inc., and the heirs of John Steinbeck’s widow, Elaine.”
Scribd Implements A Pay-Per-Download Mode
“Scribd is proposing to do for books what iTunes did for music — let readers buy only what they want to read. … Starting today, Scribd is giving readers the option of buying content, including paying a few dollars for a chapter or two from a travel guide or a how-to book.” Scribd keeps 20 percent, and the rest goes to the writers and publishers.
Ruined Racks Up Another Prize At Obies
“Off Broadway’s 54th Obie Awards honored ‘Ruined,’ ‘Road Show,’ actor Earle Hyman and legit companies Classical Theater of Harlem, the Chocolate Factory and the Lark Play Development Center on Monday.”
If Theatre Encounters Hard Times, Let The Past Be A Guide
“Theatre now finds itself in a strange position. There is little prospect of making more money at the box office: audiences are already coming in large numbers and ticket prices are high. But, as other income evaporates, we are having to face a future in which there will be fewer productions and more dark theatres. The next few years look tough – but I don’t feel gloomy.”
An Arts Advocate Ponders Arts Journalism’s Future
“As everyone knows, … writers are increasingly being shed by publishers struggling to keep their shrinking companies alive. And while the internet has provided even wider potential audiences for arts journalists, it has not yet produced a viable business model that can finance their employment. So, are arts journalism institutes, like Columbia’s or USC’s, breeding grounds for the futile pursuit of a vanishing profession?”
New Laureate Aims ‘Off-The-Cuff Couplet’ At MPs’ Scandal
“Carol Ann Duffy, appointed this month to replace Andrew Motion, told pupils at a Manchester school today that she had already started work on a poem about recent national events. To laughter and applause, the Glasgow-born poet declaimed: ‘What did we do with the trust of your vote? Hired a flunky to flush out the moat.'”