Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s 1932 novel Sunset Song has been picked – after a six-month exercise – as the best Scottish book ever. But was this public contest worth anything? “Is there any point in the exercise in the first place? Does it lead to a debate or is it just another example of a dumbed down culture unable to discuss any topic unless it has been reduced to a list?”
Tag: 08.29.05
Do-It-Yourself Critics
“Destroying someone’s career or pulling work from obscurity used to be the province of well-financed mass and trade publications, but now anybody with a voice strong enough to stand out on the Web can have a real impact – and maybe make a couple of bucks in the process. Pitchfork Media is a case in point. Started by Ryan Schreiber in his parents’ house in suburban Minneapolis in 1995, Pitchfork has emerged as one of the more important indie music tastemakers in any medium, with 125,000 unique visitors a day and only three full-time employees.”
Rushdie: On Life And A New Book
Saklman Rushdie, now 58, is “sometimes cast as the over-indulged boy-child: chubby, cute, aware of his own cuteness, with the reserves of spite and temper that come from the eminence of this position. He has many more female than male friends – “I remember saying to [his wife] Padma last year, I’m going to have to start dating some guys!” – and has some mannerisms usually associated with women; with one hand he tucks his hair behind his ear; he can look as demure as Princess Di. But he can be caustic, too.”
Tracing “David’s” Quarry
Scientists have found the exact spot where marble for Michelangelo’s David was quarried. “Until now, art historians knew only that the large block came from the Carrara quarries in Tuscany, which still produce many types and qualities of marble. Analysts have now used three tiny samples, retrieved from the second toe of the left foot of David when the figure was damaged in act of vandalism in 1991, to track down the marble’s origin. Not only were they able to determine the exact spot of excavation, they also found that Michelangelo’s marble is of mediocre quality, filled with microscopic holes, and likely to degrade faster than many other marbles.”
Gershwin Was Richest Composer
George Gershwin has been named the richest composer of all time. “Gershwin eclipsed such classical greats as Strauss, Verdi and Handel in the poll for Classic FM. The classical music station drew up the rich list based on estimates of earnings accrued in a composer’s lifetime.”