Dayjobs
Mar 17, 2010 storytelling, writing
Apparently I’m not the only one.
Like yesterday’s goodie, from here.
Tags: Lapham's Quarterly
The End of Publishing
Mar 17, 2010 books, video, writing
Interesting video, made for a UK book publishing subsidiary.
All about perspective…
Tags: Penguin, The End of Publishing, UK
If you were looking for something to read, may I suggest…
Mar 16, 2010 journalism, storytelling, writing
From NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute:
New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute, together with a group of distinguished outside judges, will be selecting The Top Ten Works of Journalism of the Decade in the United States. Ten years ago New York University, using some of the same judges, selected The Top 100 Works of Journalism of the Twentieth Century in the United States.
The eighty works of journalism listed here were nominated by the faculty at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute (with some student suggestions) and by our outside judges, who include: Madeleine Blais (University of Massachusetts), Dorothy Rabinowitz (Wall Street Journal), Morley Safer (60 Minutes), Gene Roberts (University of Maryland), Ben Yagoda (University of Delaware), Eric Newton (Knight Foundation), Ron Allen (NBC), Kathleen Parker (Washington Post), Leon Dash (University of Illinois), Juan Williams (NPR), Ezra Klein (blog, Washington Post), Alex Jones (Shorenstein Center, Harvard), Sylvia Nasar (Columbia), Daisy Hernández (Colorlines) and Greil Marcus (cultural critic).
The full-time faculty and our outside judges are now being asked to vote on these nominees — by March 22, 2010. The “Top Ten” — in order — will be announced on April 5, 2010, at New York University. Please feel free to comment on the nominees and make suggestions. Clicking on a nominee in the list that follows will bring up a short description and a link either to the work or to a discussion of the work.
– Mitchell Stephens, Professor of Journalism, NYU
There’s 80 pieces. Anyone want to split it with me?
We could do something like this guy, who is reading the Best American Short Stories series from 1978- 2009 and blogging about each story. Love it…
Tags: awards, blogging, NYU, short story
Not that anyone reads magazines…
Mar 12, 2010 journalism, news, storytelling, writing
You should. Just most people don’t.
I had a video heavy posting day the other day and apparently today’s theme is documentaries. I will be posting about the one I watched last night a little later. But to break it up, I wanted to post this year’s ASME’s 2010 National Magazine Awards finalists.
I’m sure most of these can be found online.
(Aka: something to read while at my day job.)
Tags: 2010, 2010 National Magazine Awards, ASME, magazine, National Magazine Awards
The Death of Fiction?
Feb 3, 2010 storytelling, writing
The Death of Fiction?
From Mother Jones’ January/February 2010 issue.
The editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review laments the death of the short story. He wields his blame thrower, hitting all the right targets. (Universities, writers, economy…)
My favorite line:
You may be a precious snowflake, but if you can’t express your individuality in sterling prose, I don’t want to read about it.
Tags: fiction, Mother Jones, short story, Ted Genoways, Virginia Quarterly Review, VQR
Books
Jan 28, 2010 etc., storytelling, writing
I said to someone the other day that as an addict, I am constantly worried about running out of anything I like. It’s reassuring to know I have an endless supply of books on my list to read that I might not ever get to.
I can’t ever run out.
Here’s what I just finished, just started and want to start.
I bought this because it was written by Dave Eggers, the founder of McSweeny’s, which I generally like and turn to for lit related stuff. Plus the whole Katrina angle interested me. But the book fucking bored me. I was extremely monotone. I didn’t think there was any change in the pitch and the angle of a Muslim facing illegal and Unconstitutional treatment post 9/11 in the middle of a catastrophe is trite. I only finished it because it was a quick and easy read.
What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures
Malcolm Gladwell‘s other books, but this one is different. While the others are almost books on theory and interactions/relationships/processing, What the Dog Saw is a collection of Gladwell’s pieces from The New Yorker. And it’s amazing. From stylistically to content wise, it’s hands down awesome. From making completely banal subjects intersting to making interesting subjects even more fascinating, while delivering information in a stylized way, it’s great. It’s only out in hardcover right now, but when it hits paperback I will definitely be copping it. I use books like this almost for reference and inspiration.
*Edit: One guess who spoke at UPenn today. One more guess who didn’t know/go.
Linchpin
I picked this up after having read something about it online. I can’t think of another book, especially about business/branding, that I felt compelled to go out and buy in hardcover the day it came out. But reading what I did about it (here, here, here, here and a post by author Seth Godin here) and having a $25 Border’s gift card, I splurged. I started it tonight and I’m psyched to read the rest. It kind of summed up my thoughts and what I have managed to do in many jobs I have had over the years. To find this niche role where I’m not necessarily trying to shoot up a corporate ladder, but find a void and make myself useful. Not what I am doing as useful, but make myself useful. It looks like Godin cohesively puts it all together.
The Believer Book of Writers Talking to Writers
I bought this at the same time I picked up this. If you pay any attention to my blog or bookshelf, I am mildly obsessed with the creative process and own many books on writers talking about their process and writing. Can’t wait to get into it.
I love me some books.
Tags: Dave Eggers, Hurricane Katrina, Linchpin, Malcolm Gladwell, McSweeny's, Seth Godin, The Believer Book of Writers Talking to Writers, What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures, Zeitoun
lit a fire
Jan 19, 2010 storytelling, writing
So I have a couple lit blogs in my Google Reader, but I usually don’t have time to just sit and read short stories on the internet. Actually, that’s a lie. I do all sorts of dumb, mind and time wasting shit on the internet. Sometimes I just don’t have the attention span to take it in. Which is a fucking shame. I don’t make new year’s resolutions ever so this year’s resolution was to be more creative. Reading, writing, painting, whatever. To create instead of just being entertained. Gas and I just finished a first draft of a collaborative short story effort. Hopefully it’s the first of many….
In any event, since I am at work, what a better time to start plowing through some of the stuff I haven’t looked over.
I liked this.
Some of the places I go to read new stuff are:
- Flatmancrooked
- Electric Literature
- A Public Space
- Narrative Digest
- The Believer
- Joyland
- The Smart Set
- The Millions
This guy, who is also a fan of The Millions, took the titles of Best American Short Stories from 1978 to 2009 and made a word cloud of the different words in the titles. Most popular word? Life.
Tags: A Public Space, Electric Literature, Flatmancrooked, Joyland, literature, Narrative Digest, short story, The Believer, The Millions, The Smart Set, website
Magazine love…
Dec 7, 2009 writing
This is always nice:
I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT #C WAS A GREAT ISSUE PUT TOGETHER. BUT CHRIS’S INTRO WAS SO TRUE. AND I AM GLAD THAT HE EXPRESS HIMSELF ON HOW THE PEOPLE THAT ACTUALLY GIVE A DAMN ALWAYS GET SHITTED ON. I WORK FOR AN UP AND COMING RECORD STORE THAT I AM ALWAYS LOOKING FOR QUALITY PRODUCT TO OFFER TO THE PATRONS. I WILL SAY THAT I READ ALL THE PERIODICALS LIKE THE SOURCE AND XXL. BUT I LIKE THE FOUNDATION BECAUSE YOUR MAG SHOWS A TRUE NON AFFLIATIONS. IF YOU ARE HOT, YOU ARE HOT IF NOT YOU DO NOT GET IN THE PUBLICATION. I HOPE TO ONE DAY SELL THE MAGAZINE OUT OF THE STORE BECAUSE IT IS OF GREAT QUALITY AND INFORMATION NOT BULLSHIT AND DICK RIDING LIKE WHAT THE OTHERS DO. THANKS
MARK PRYOR
Also had one friend who teaches kids tell me one of her students said,
one of my students’ loves your magazine…he asked for a signed copy…
The same day one of my co-workers told me she was in a waiting room at Jefferson Hospital and copies of the magazine were in the waiting room.
This all still surprises me.
