“The truth is that bad novels sometimes happen to good novelists. Absolute consistency is the hallmark of very few writers, particularly the more prolific ones. Must we, as readers, suffer bad prose for the sake of loyalty?”
Tag: 06.30.08
How An Ancient Culture Sounded
For years, many archaeologists who uncovered ancient noisemakers dismissed them as toys. Museums relegated them to warehouses. But while most studies and exhibits of ancient cultures focus on how they looked, Velazquez said the noisemakers provide a rare glimpse into how they sounded. “We’ve been looking at our ancient culture as if they were deaf and mute,” he said. “But I think all of this is tied closely to what they did, how they thought.”
Study: You Get Your Friends By Chance
“One year after they met for the first time, 52 college freshmen were asked to rate their relationships with each other. By a significant margin, the first relationships they made were often the closest.”
Pavarotti’s Family Agree On Split Of Estate
“Pavarotti had drafted two wills near the end of his yearlong battle with cancer. One divided his assets by Italian law, giving half to his second wife, Nicoletta Mantovani, and half to his four daughters. The second left the tenor’s U.S. holdings to Mantovani.”
Our Language In Universal Gestures
“It seems that, regardless of the sentence structure of their native tongue, non-verbal communication is the same across the globe. English, Spanish and many other Western languages build most basic sentences around a simple blueprint.”
Pixar: Quality Is The Best Business Plan
“For all the talk that critics are out of touch with mainstream moviegoers, critics and audiences are in agreement on one key thing: Nobody makes better movies than Pixar. This stratospheric level of quality has turned Pixar into movieland’s most reliable family brand.”
NPR Expands Its Books Coverage
National Public Radio has expanded the book coverage on its website, adding weekly book reviews, and has hired six new book reviewers–including a graphic novel reviewer–and added more features to an already existing lineup of author podcasts, critics’ lists and other book-focused content.
Hollywood Studios Make Actors “Final” Offer
“The producers alliance said its package was worth more than $250 million in additional compensation to SAG members and was patterned after previous deals negotiated with Hollywood writers, directors and AFTRA.”
When Poetry Got Difficult
“One has to wonder if poetry has any place in the 21st century, when music videos and satellite television offer daunting competition for poems, which demand a good deal of attention and considerable analytic skills, as well as some knowledge of the traditions of poetry. In the 20th century, something went amiss. Poetry became ‘difficult.’ That is, poets began to reflect the complexities of modern culture, its fierce disjunctions.”
Average Network TV Viewer Is Now 50
“The five broadcast nets’ average live median age (in other words, not including delayed DVR viewing) was 50 last season. That’s the oldest ever since Sternberg started analyzing median age more than a decade ago — and the first time the nets’ median age was outside of the vaunted 18-49 demo.”