Tag: 11.25.03

Coady To King: Shut Up And Go Count Your Royalties

Lynn Coady was a bit perplexed by Stephen King’s recent tirade against highbrow literary culture at the National Book Awards. “He seemed unable to stop himself… asserting that the gap between ‘the so-called popular fiction and the so-called literary fiction’ must be closed. To which a bemused Joe Average can only reply: Dude, you’re a billionaire. It is not for you to gripe about egg-headed and arbitrary distinctions between high and low art. Accept your award with humble aplomb and resume laughing your way to the bank.”

Harry Potter, Part XVI: Attack Of The Clones

One significant byproduct of the wild popularity of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series has been an explosion of the entire children’s fantasy genre. Not all the Harry wannabes are particularly good literature, but with publishing houses and booksellers alike determined to find the Next Big Thing in kid-lit, there’s no shortage of new books involving young wizards, dragon eggs, and supernatural detectives.

Seuss Flick Fans Had Best Beware: Product Placement’s Everywhere!

“The new Cat in the Hat movie makes fun of infomercials and product placement, but the joke rings a bit hollow because the movie has no fewer than 16 corporate sponsors. All Dr. Seuss needed to create one of the most exciting and hilarious stories in the history of literature was 225 vocabulary words, four colors and some imagination. But it takes a zillion-dollar budget to make The Cat in the Hat into a movie, and movie studios do not want to spend any more than they have to… That’s why one of this year’s biggest and most avidly anticipated holiday releases has turned Seuss’ simple story into a marketing bonanza.”

Killing Off Underground Music

The sounds of silence will soon reign supreme in Boston’s subway tunnels and station stops. Well, except for the screeching trains and squawking public address systems, of course. The city has banned street musicians from using amplification or playing electronic keyboards or brass instruments on Boston’s underground platforms. “The rules are sure to transform Boston’s true underground music scene, which up to this point has been one of the nation’s least regulated. In New York and Atlanta, musicians must audition and sign up for slots; Toronto singers pay a $114 fee; in London, musicians need licenses to croon to commuters ‘minding the gap.’ And in Washington, D.C., they’re banned altogether.”

Nonprofits Following Dean’s Lead

The internet has always held great financial promise for nonprofit arts groups and charities, but few of these groups have ever built a truly successful online fundraising apparatus. Now, with presidential candidate Howard Dean raking in record numbers of contributions from his online campaign efforts, nonprofits are taking notice. “They’re using e-mail lists to solicit donations and mobilize support. They run educational campaigns through e-mail to keep their community informed. They even arrange ‘meet-ups’ offline to keep supporters involved.”