books

List

A Field Guide to Literary References in Monty Python's Flying Circus

While it's better known for dead parrots and crossdressing lumberjacks, Monty Python has a surprisingly academic background. Five of the six members of the group (Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, John Cleese, and Eric Idle) attended either Oxford or Cambridge. Cutting their teeth writing for other BBC series, the five eventually joined up, along with American Terry Gilliam, to create Monty Python's Flying Circus. While experimenting with the bounds of sketch comedy, the group also flexed... READ ON

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Why reCAPTCHA is Good for Humanity

Last week we talked about KittenAuth, a novel CAPTCHA system used to differentiate between humans and spambots -- by using pictures of kittens. Today let's take a look at reCAPTCHA, the system in use by this very blog. What does it do, and why is it good for humanity? What's a CAPTCHA? First let's review the term CAPTCHA. It's a loose acronym for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart." The idea is to force humans to do a (relatively) simple task like read a... READ ON

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4 Must-Read Books for Aspiring Writers

If there's one thing writers love talking (and complaining) about, it's writing. Lots of authors have put out books about their writing processes -- some better than others. Here are four of my favorites. (And please use the comments to suggest more books on writing that deserve to be featured!) 1. Telling Lies for Fun &... READ ON

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The Machine That Made Us

Stephen Fry, best known (to me anyway) for playing Jeeves in the P.G. Wodehouse adaptation Jeeves and Wooster, recently hosted a BBC4 documentary on the Gutenberg Press entitled The Machine That Made Us. The title refers to the movable-type printing press invented by Johann Gutenberg in the fifteenth century. In the course of the one-hour documentary, Fry travels through Europe to understand Gutenberg's story. He also builds a modern replica of the press, which turns out to be a tough job. You can... READ ON

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Titlepage: Long Form Book Talk

Titlepage is a new online book discussion show. Each episode lasts roughly an hour, featuring multiple authors and high production values. Its producer says: "You should not have to live in New York City or pay $150 to hear your favorite authors talk about their work. You can be having dinner in Gillette, Wyoming or Oxford, Mississippi and enjoy a great hour of conversation." Odile Isralson, Executive Producer Titlepage is now showing its third episode, featuring: David Hajdu, author of... READ ON

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What Books Can't You Put Down?

Okay, I'm a little dim today because I stayed up all night reading The Stand -- the crazy-long unexpurgated version. I'm not sure how I managed NOT to read this book until now (nor really any Stephen King stuff), but once I started, I quickly realized that I couldn't stop. First I turned off the phone, then I ordered a massive delivery of food (couldn't spare precious moments for cooking), and proceeded to devote myself entirely to The Stand. After an entire weekend reading (including both nights -- and... READ ON

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Deal Breaker Books

Rachel Donadio published an essay on yesterday's New York Times Sunday Book Review entitled It's Not You, It's Your Books. Donadio discusses how a person's taste in books affects relationships, and she brings in comments from all sorts of literary folks including Augusten Burroughs and Nora Ephron. Donadio also appeared on NPR's Talk of the Nation today, on a program entitled Books: A Canary in the Relationship Coal Mine? It sounds like she's already getting quite a reaction to her piece, as it's... READ ON

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One For the Kids: Storyline Online

Story time has long been a completely analog process -- employing good old-fashioned print books, read together with a child. Well, like most things, there's now an option to enjoy kids' stories online: Storyline Online. Read mostly by professional actors (and one by Al Gore), the stories are well-produced, showing the illustrations as well as an optional follow-along written track at the bottom of the screen (be aware -- on some stories this may go by too fast for some kids). The site includes... READ ON

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Wikipedia's List of "Lost Work"

Having a pleasant Wednesday afternoon? Prepare to get sad! Wikipedia has an excellent article on lost work, explained thusly: "a document or literary work produced some time in the past of which no surviving copies are known to exist. Works may be lost to history either through the destruction of the original manuscript, or through the non-survival of any copies of the work." It's a staggering list, but for your reading convenience I've gone ahead and collected some of the most depressing items... READ ON

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Who Are the Top Amazon Reviewers?

Slate recently ran an article asking Who is Grady Harp? -- the short answer is, he's one of the top "customer reviewers" on Amazon. But the long answer is a good deal more complex. Grady Harp is one of just a few Amazon reviewers who reach the Top 10, reading excessive numbers of books and handing out lots of five-star reviews. The reviewers seem to scratch each others' backs by voting on each others' reviews, and some of them seem just a bit nutty. Here's a bit from Garth Risk Hallberg's Slate... READ ON