“Nowadays, thanks to the internet and its many search engines writers can conduct their research at a much-accelerated pace. Chief among the millions of web resources is its most frequently-visited encyclopedia, Wikipedia. … Research has now been boiled down to a few hours on a laptop at a crumb-flecked table in an overpriced coffee shop. This may not necessarily be a good thing.”
Tag: 06.27.07
J.T LeRoy Isn’t Real, But “Sarah” Is Good Fiction
Antidote International Films won its lawsuit against J.T. LeRoy creator Laura Albert, but should it have? “The value of the novel, in Antidote’s view, depended not on what was between its covers, but on who the producers thought the author was (and on their belief that the novel derived directly from events in his life). Almost all the press around Albert’s deception … has treated ‘LeRoy’s’ fiction the same way, as something akin to falsified autobiography. That’s a shame, and not just because Sarah is still a good read.”
Wait: Kids Believe What They Read?
In the category of Things The Advertisers Already Knew is this bit of now-scientific fact: “Kids believe what they read — even if it’s wrong. This may seem fairly obvious (don’t adults do this too?), but it’s now been statistically confirmed by scientists, who say that parents and teachers should use care in choosing books for their kids.”
Rivera Biographer Questions Paintings in Kahlo Show
“Looks as if Frida Kahlo, one of the Modern era’s most enigmatic artists, has been keeping a few more mysteries tucked inside her tehuana outfits. … On Monday, the Mexico City daily newspaper Reforma published a story in which Raquel Tibol, a respected art critic and author of a new biographical study of Kahlo’s husband, Diego Rivera, raised questions about the authenticity of two of the works in the Kahlo restrospective at the Palace of Bellas Artes.”
He’s Naked Already, And Now He’ll Take A Public Bath
“Donatello’s David, the statue credited with starting Italian Renaissance sculpture, is to receive its first big clean-up using innovative laser lifting techniques that are expected to reveal striking gold leaf hair highlights. The 18-month restoration, boosted by €200,000 (£135,000) in government funding, will be carried out in front of visitors to Florence’s Bargello museum. Instead of moving the bronze figure to a laboratory, restorers have brought their lights, cleaning utensils, microscopes and lasers into the display room.”
A Beauteous Flower, But Whose Verse Has Earned It?
After wandering through Shakespeare gardens in San Francisco and New York, Jeremy McCarter muses that contemporary plays seldom “yield the kinds of passages that people erect gardens to celebrate. Look at the foremost living playwrights: Pinter, Mamet, Albee, Churchill, Kushner (to name a few). All … show varying degrees of flair with language. But who among them employs the kind of luxurious metaphor, the rich description, that people will cast on bronze plaques in a 100 years’ time – and where would they go?”
Spectator Muzzles Review Of Brown; Guardian Pounces
“Whatever its actual merits, Tina Brown’s Diana Chronicles has been the most talked-about book of the season and Sarah Bradford’s its most talked-about review – even though, until today, it had not been published. It remains unclear why the Spectator refused to print Bradford’s piece, given that she is widely considered to be this country’s foremost authority on Diana. But here it is, abridged and edited.” (And, um, it’s not exactly a rave.)
On The Hunt For Cheap Theatre Tickets, Sans Regret
“Theatre in the UK has never been cheaper, we’re told. The internet’s overridden with offers, deals on West End shows put Broadway prices to shame and the National’s £10 Travelex season has convinced many that a night at the theatre doesn’t have to be horrifically expensive. That’s all very well – I love a bargain – but maybe thrifty theatre-going comes with a hidden cost. You might save a few quid, but does it leave you with a miserable experience?”
An Ode To The Public Library, Where Imagination Plays
“When politics gets mean and dumb, you can cheer yourself up by walking into a public library, one of the nobler expressions of democracy,” Garrison Keillor advises. “The library is the temple of freedom.”
Glyndebourne’s Jurowski Sets New Generation’s Style
“Looking for the busiest conductor in Britain, the most active and influential? You won’t find him in the obvious places,” Norman Lebrecht writes. “The baton who spends most time in Britain is music director at Glyndebourne and head of two orchestras, both of them resident at the reopened Royal Festival Hall. Vladimir Jurowski has more bands on the run than any boss since Thomas Beecham.”