June 27, 2007
Good thing that whole eBay auction ploy worked out! Yeah, so I'm a few months late on this post, but... after devouring the first couple hundred pages of Chris Adrian's The Children's Hospital, I've decided that reading it is pretty much all I want to do until I'm done. Nina knew what was up back in March. And since signings around town have been slowing down a bit now that summer is in full swing, I figured I'd interrupt our normal broadcast of readings alerts and leave you with a simple recommendation. The only downside so far? The hardcopy weighs in at 600 pages, which means I can no longer fit my lunch, a water bottle, a sweater, two magazines, and assorted random shit in my pathetic shoulder bag anymore. It's The Children's Hospital or nothing. Totally worth it.
June 21, 2007
The New Yorker was destined to have a books podcast at some point. The Dating Game is the first edition, featuring a discussion between Edwidge Danticat and fiction editor, Deborah Treisman. They chat about Junot Díaz’s 1995 short story “How to Date a Brown Girl (Black Girl, White Girl, or Halfie)" from his collection Drown. And included is a reading of the story by Díaz, from from the CD “The New Yorker Out Loud, Vol. 2.”
Stream the mp3 here, go to The New Yorker Out Loud page to download, or subscribe to the fiction podcast from The New Yorker feed at the iTunes store.
June 18, 2007
Having taken meticulous notes and planned the novel during his cross-country travels, JACK KEROUAC wrote the first draft of On the Road in a three-week burst of creativity, taping sheets of paper together so they could run through his typewriter uninterrupted. After a cross-country exhibition tour, the original scroll has returned to Lowell’s Boott Cotton Mills Museum, where its display will be part of "ON THE ROAD IN LOWELL,” a festival of readings, musical performances, and art exhibits (see www.ontheroadinlowell.org) planned around the 50th anniversary of On the Road. The Beat Generation is reborn at Lowell National Historical Park, 115 John St, Lowell | June 15–September 14 [reception June 15: 6-9 pm] | 978.970.5000.
June 14, 2007
TREVOR CORSON has a thing for sea life. His first book, The Secret Life of Lobsters, began as an essay in The Best American Science Writing. Now, he’s turning his attention from Maine crustaceans to “the fast food of Old Tokyo” with The Zen of Fish (click for an excerpt). Corson, a reporter and magazine editor who’s fluent in Japanese, presents the cultural history and science behind sushi through the eyes of Kate Murray and her fellow students at the California Sushi Academy. Not only does he elaborate on how the original concept of sushi became bastardized by America, he provides an insider’s tour of Murray’s three-month apprenticeship — all the while inserting delicious tidbits on the behind-the-scenes characters of sushi preparation. Corson reads and signs at the Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard St, Brookline | 7 pm | free | 617.566.6660.
June 12, 2007
The lit buzz circulating around Brookline native RISHI REDDI reminds us of the hype that surrounded Jhumpa Lahiri back when The Interpreter of Maladies — a collection she began writing at Boston University’s Creative Writing program that went on to win the Pulitzer in 2000 — was published. Like Lahiri, Reddi uses her Indian background as a cultural setting. Most of the linked tales in Karma and Other Stories (click for an excerpt) are set in our own fine city, and generational gaps as well as a reconciliation with both Indian and American culture come into play. But Reddi, a Grub Street alumna and current board member, has her own elegant voice. She’ll read and sign at Borders Books and Music, 10-24 School St, Boston | 12:30 pm | free | 617.557.7188.
June 06, 2007
We first became enthralled by Audacia Ray’s new book because it boasted a cover with numerical code arranged in the form of an ass. Bloody brilliant, if you ask us. Of course, the inside worked for us as well. Naked on the Internet: Hookups, Downloads and Cashing In on Internet Sexploration is a seriously painstaking peek into the way that women have/are using the internet to explore their sexuality and in some instances getting paid to do so. Ray, a former sex worker, covers the gamut in her interviews — sex bloggers, online escorts, online daters, cammers, and more.
In the following Q&A, the author, emailing from New Amsterdam where she was due to give a talk at the Summer Institute on Sexuality and Culture (among other things, we presume), chats about her favorite sex blogs, how she answers questions about what she does for a living, and porn websites that may or may not be demeaning to women.
Q: If somebody asked what you did for a living, what exactly would you tell them? Would it change depending on who asked the question?
A: I’m always straight-forward about what I do for a living: I’m an editor, writer, researcher, blogger, curator, and filmmaker who works in sex. I usually like to leave the conversation kind of open-ended and let people ask questions if they have them or gloss over it if they don’t want to know.
Q: I'm wondering what prompted you to write this book. Has there been very much research done into this sort of thing?
A: Most of the books about sexuality and the internet so far tend to be either kind of fluffy how-to’s about hooking up and using technology for naughtiness, or really heavy-hitting clinical studies of Internet sex addiction (though the jury is still out on whether the latter actually exists). I wanted to write a book that was a critical analysis of what’s happening with female sexuality online — both good and bad — but I also wanted it to be fun and readable. I think it’s also significant that I am part of many of the communities I write about — that’s definitely an added dimension to the whole thing.
Q: Tell me a little bit about your academic background.
A: I just finished my MA in American Studies at Columbia University this spring. I also have a BA in Cultural Studies from Eugene Lang College. I got pretty fascinated with sexuality when I was an undergraduate, though some of my academic interest was a bit of a cover for my naughty side. That said, I love both information about sex and sex itself.
Q: Do you think that the internet gave birth to the sexy nerd thing going on right now?
A: The Internet didn’t create the sexy nerd, but it definitely opened up the possibilities for her. It’s kind of weird and funny to me that knowing a lot about computers and the Internet has actually become a cool thing.
Q: What are two of your favorite sex blogs?
A: I don’t read as many personal sex blogs as I used to. These days two of the sex-related blogs that I look at the most are Dirty Found ( //dirtyfound.typepad.com) which is basically an online collection of dirty pictures, notes and drawings that people find and send in. Also, the blog by filmmaker Tony Comstock, The Art and Business of Making Erotic Films (//www.comstockfilms.com/blog/tony/)
Q: What do you think about websites like Bang Bros, and other sites that are demeaning to women?
A: This is a bit complicated because there are really two dimensions to porn and the degree to which it is demeaning — there is what you see (the performance) and there is what you don’t see (the production). Just because a scene looks demeaning doesn’t mean that the woman participating felt demeaned or that the male performers or production company were nasty and abusive to her off-camera. People like doing and watching all kinds of sex. On the other hand, there is definitely ugly stuff that happens in the porn industry, and that shouldn’t be downplayed.
Get ready to talk dirty with Audacia this Thursday, June 7th, at the Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard St, Brookline |7 pm | free | 617.566.6660.
— Ian Sands
June 06, 2007
We first became enthralled by Audacia Ray’s new book because it boasted a cover with numerical code arranged in the form of an ass. Bloody brilliant, if you ask us. Of course, the inside worked for us as well. Naked on the Internet: Hookups, Downloads and Cashing In on Internet Sexploration is a seriously painstaking peek into the way that women have/are using the internet to explore their sexuality and in some instances getting paid to do so. Ray, a former sex worker, covers the gamut in her interviews — sex bloggers, online escorts, online daters, cammers, and more.
In the following Q&A, the author, emailing from New Amsterdam where she was due to give a talk at the Summer Institute on Sexuality and Culture (among other things, we presume), chats about her favorite sex blogs, how she answers questions about what she does for a living, and porn websites that may or may not be demeaning to women.
Q: If somebody asked what you did for a living, what exactly would you tell them? Would it change depending on who asked the question?
A: I’m always straight-forward about what I do for a living: I’m an editor, writer, researcher, blogger, curator, and filmmaker who works in sex. I usually like to leave the conversation kind of open-ended and let people ask questions if they have them or gloss over it if they don’t want to know.
Q: I'm wondering what prompted you to write this book. Has there been very much research done into this sort of thing?
A: Most of the books about sexuality and the internet so far tend to be either kind of fluffy how-to’s about hooking up and using technology for naughtiness, or really heavy-hitting clinical studies of Internet sex addiction (though the jury is still out on whether the latter actually exists). I wanted to write a book that was a critical analysis of what’s happening with female sexuality online — both good and bad — but I also wanted it to be fun and readable. I think it’s also significant that I am part of many of the communities I write about — that’s definitely an added dimension to the whole thing.
Q: Tell me a little bit about your academic background.
A: I just finished my MA in American Studies at Columbia University this spring. I also have a BA in Cultural Studies from Eugene Lang College. I got pretty fascinated with sexuality when I was an undergraduate, though some of my academic interest was a bit of a cover for my naughty side. That said, I love both information about sex and sex itself.
Q: Do you think that the internet gave birth to the sexy nerd thing going on right now?
A: The Internet didn’t create the sexy nerd, but it definitely opened up the possibilities for her. It’s kind of weird and funny to me that knowing a lot about computers and the Internet has actually become a cool thing.
Q: What are two of your favorite sex blogs?
A: I don’t read as many personal sex blogs as I used to. These days two of the sex-related blogs that I look at the most are Dirty Found ( //dirtyfound.typepad.com) which is basically an online collection of dirty pictures, notes and drawings that people find and send in. Also, the blog by filmmaker Tony Comstock, The Art and Business of Making Erotic Films (//www.comstockfilms.com/blog/tony/)
Q: What do you think about websites like Bang Bros, and other sites that are demeaning to women?
A: This is a bit complicated because there are really two dimensions to porn and the degree to which it is demeaning — there is what you see (the performance) and there is what you don’t see (the production). Just because a scene looks demeaning doesn’t mean that the woman participating felt demeaned or that the male performers or production company were nasty and abusive to her off-camera. People like doing and watching all kinds of sex. On the other hand, there is definitely ugly stuff that happens in the porn industry, and that shouldn’t be downplayed.
Get ready to talk dirty with Audacia this Thursday, June 7th, at the Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard St, Brookline |7 pm | free | 617.566.6660.
— Ian Sands
June 05, 2007
Dear Oprah,
Please stop it.
Now when I recommed Jeffrey Eugenides's Middlesex to people as one of my favorite coming-of-age novels of all time, they're going to be like, Gag, wasn't that shit on Oprah? Soon you'll put your Oprah Seal of Approval on all the new book pressings. I'll walk into the bookstore and I'll see it. I'll feel depressed. I can't help it. Listen, before you start talking about the literary version of "scene cred," and how lame it is, let me cut you off right now. I really could care less about loving a book that isn't cool to love because you love it and you make America love it. Srsly. And, I'm really happy for Jeffrey Eugenides because I think he's an incredible talent. I adore all his work.
It's just that you have this way of popularizing things and discussing them in a manner that takes away the spark of what made me first fall for it. Does that make sense?
I don't know what it is with you. Or with me. I'm double-talking. You see how you affect people? Damn you, Winfrey!!
No. Ok. I'm not angry. I just feel this weird resentment. What you're doing is good because it will expose people to another wonderful novel. Although I can't imagine what Middle American Housewives will think of a book that is basically about a transgendered teenager who first becomes a lesbian and then becomes a boy. Cal is amazing, and I don't want anyone to hate him. They might, and they can, but I don't want them to.
I'm worried about that.
I don't know what else to say. It's not like you can stop. I just really don't like you right now.
Stop screaming so loud when you announce your guests's names because it's really annoying,
Sharon
P.S. Can I have a car?
June 04, 2007
Brookline Booksmith hosts a double bill with both ANDREW O’HAGAN and CLAIRE MESSUD reading from their fourth novels. The Scottish-born O’Hagan’s Be Near Me is narrated by David Anderton, an Oxford-educated Catholic priest who obtains a parish near his elderly mother in working-class Scotland. His “posh” behavior and cultural tastes alienate his parishioners, and then there’s his relationship with a young boy. The characters in Messud’s The Emperor’s Children don’t quite self-destruct the way Anderton does, but they’re living in post-9/11 New York City with career issues, broken dreams, and media obsessions. Religion and social satire rule at Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard St, Brookline | 7 pm | free | 617.566.6660.
June 01, 2007
We can't stop OMG-ing over these amazing graphic renderings of what will soon become The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Ok, so it'll be built in lame muggy Orlando as opposed to the moors of Britain, which sucks, but whatever. We're sure J.K. Rowling can invest her bajillions in some kind of park-wide fog/mist machine. Anyway. Who cares? It looks awesome and magical! Start planning your 2009 vacations or just scroll down for pics. Click here for the Daily Mail's piece.
