Yes, writing can be lonely – but producing a published book is a community affair. – The Guardian (UK)
Tag: 07.19.19
What ‘The Vicious Circle’ Of Writers Did For The United States
The “lunchtime battle of wits” at the Algonquin Hotel prepared a generation of socially conscious writers (especially the most famous of them all, Dorothy Parker) to take on the forces of isolationism, sexism, and anti-radical prejudice. – The New York Times
How The Soul-Sucking Job Of Ushering For A Disney Spectacle On Broadway Inspired The Creator Of A Hot New Musical
Yes, that Disney spectacle was indeed The Lion King, and A Strange Loop‘s Michael R. Jackson spent years working as an usher for the runaway hit. He says, “Being an usher was pretty brutal, for me at least. You’re seeing Broadway patrons up close and personal eight shows a week. Anything can happen. There’s lots of vomit involved, and accidents, and spills, soda, and trash.” But hey, it inspired a musical that “has been thrilling New York audiences with its audacious update of the form.” – Slate
The Weird, Huge Blind Spot At The Heart Of Beyoncé’s ‘Lion King’ Album
It’s the same one that makes Kendrick Lamar’s soundtrack for Black Panther less than ideal, but it’s even more glaring for a film inspired by the geography and culture of Kenya and other East African countries. “What’s … notable, though, is what the album lacks—namely, even a single song from an East African artist.”- The Atlantic
In Germany, The Far-Right Political Party Wants To Know The Nationalities Of All Artists In State-Funded Companies
Yes, that’s pretty damned alarming for anyone who knows history. “Many cultural leaders in the state Baden-Württemberg, of which Stuttgart is the capital, saw the inquiry about artists’ nationalities as an ominous sign of the party’s increasing interest in the arts — and a possible clue of what the party might focus on if it were to gain greater power over arts institutions.” – The New York Times
We Hate To See Orchestras Fail. It’s Just That We Don’t Support Them, Either
Anne Midgette: “I often talk about the way the classical-music world tends to conflate institutions with the art form. When an orchestra closes, it’s seen as an assault on Beethoven and Brahms. By contrast, when a restaurant closes or a car company goes bankrupt, people may bitterly bemoan it, but they don’t see it as a threat to food, nor do they think that cars are endangered.” – Washington Post
Why Do We Do Things To Be Perverse?
Unruliness, perversity, pigheadedness—psychologists have long been interested in this bestiary of paradoxical thought and action. Perversity is a puzzle. It’s hard to explain, scientifically, what Edgar Allan Poe described as “the imp of the perverse.” – The New Yorker
Should Books Include Credits The Way Movies Do?
Trapeze, an Orion/Hachette imprint, is starting to do just that. David Barnett observes that almost 60 people were involved in the publication of his new novel: “the editors, the marketing and PR types – but also the smaller but crucial roles: the proofreaders who make sure you haven’t started calling Maisy Maisie in chapter 12, the all-important cover designers, the team behind the audiobooks, …” – The Guardian