October 2011
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Girl-child: Your mind is on your shoulder!
Me: Why? Is it mad? Is it running away?
Girl-child: Yes. You better get it and put it back where it's supposed to be!
“Okay, here’s why Halloween is the best holiday: We don’t worry about it. Nobody...”
– In Defense of Halloween - Brainstorm - The Chronicle of Higher Education
“I didn’t think I’d get through this book. But I did. You always do.”
– Joan Didion
“Nonfiction is more personal for me. It’s more personal in that it’s...”
– Joan Didion
Joan Didion writes through 'Blue Nights' -... →
Tomorrow!
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In the past two weeks, I have read everything on the Internet about Joan Didion. This is possibly responsible for my mood. I also apologize in advance (not really) for the upcoming week.
Also, I’m plagued by a very Didion anxiety that this could very well be the last book we ever read from her. Does that put anyone else on edge? Seriously, guys, this is taking up a tremendous amount of...
“At one point in our discussion, I’d asked her a technical question about fiction...”
– Meghan Daum
Positions of Privilege
lareviewofbooks:
MATTHEW SPECKTOR on Joan Didion’s Blue Nights. Joan Didion © Ed Wexler The Los Angeles Review of Books gives its pages this week to discussions of Joan Didion on the occasion of her latest book, Blue Nights. Didion, an icon of literary L.A. despite living in New York much of her life, wrote in 1976 that “[t]o shift the structure of a sentence alters the meaning of that...
LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS: See below for... →
lareviewofbooks:
See below for credits The Los Angeles Review of Books has given its pages this week to discussions of Joan Didion on the occasion of the publication of her latest book, Blue Nights. Didion, an icon of literary L.A. despite living in New York much of her life, wrote in 1976 that “[t]o shift…
Where the Morning Went
lareviewofbooks:
For the reader, in many ways, this book is less about the loss of Quintana than it is about the impending loss of Joan Didion. It’s very hard to imagine American literature without her — without her intelligence, her discerning eye, her refusal to abandon her allegiance to “taste,” her elitism, her democracy, her plain, twisted, harsh sentences — and yet one must. For those of...
“If you truly love a book, you should sleep with it, write in it, read aloud from...”
– Anne Fadiman (via bookstorecouture)
“I’ve always been in the wrong shirt.”
– Jon Hamm
After 40 Years, Grisly 'Exorcist' Book Gets A... →
Well, now I want to re-read it. But I also have become accustomed to sleep, which I didn’t do after reading the book/seeing the movie.
Last night, the girl-child and I hung out at my apartment, and as we were leaving to go back to her house, it was dark and cold and I told her the air smelled like winter. (She’s three and spent last winter somewhere not winter-y, so I thought she should know.) But, you know, it’s Pittsburgh and still October, so that’s not really winter. Except I just looked out the window, and...
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh explains many things about the kind of child I was and, more importantly, the kind of adult I am.
Kind of Blue
lareviewofbooks:
AMY EPHRON on Joan Didion’s Blue Nights. Joan Didion © Scott Laumann The Los Angeles Review of Books gives its pages this week to discussions of Joan Didion on the occasion of her latest book, Blue Nights. Didion, an icon of literary L.A. despite living in New York much of her life, wrote in 1976 that “[t]o shift the structure of a sentence alters the meaning of that...
Having, or Making, or Thinking About Making a...
lareviewofbooks:
But I also suspect that what we have in the 76-year-old Didion is a writer who believes so thoroughly in her own mythos and its trappings (the bougainvillea, the cigarettes and sunglasses, the designer shifts — oh, those shifts!) that the essential facts are rendered almost irrelevant. The woman could publish a shopping list and still convey the impression that something very...
This Is Why You’re My Best Friend « Thought... →
‘American Girl’ series author creating series for... →
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“This is what I’m going to do. Every time a Knick game is supposed to be on, I’m...”
– Will somebody hear Sal Pane’s plea? It has something to do with sports but I worry that it’s going to end in his death. (via katiecoyle)
Personally, I look forward to seeing how this plays out, especially any accompanying text messages.
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The Baby
lareviewofbooks:
SUSAN STRAIGHT on Joan Didion’s Blue Nights. Joan Didion, John Gregory Dunne, and Quintana Roo Dunne Central Park, New York, 1970 © Dominick Dunne The Los Angeles Review of Books gives its pages this week to discussions of Joan Didion on the occasion of the publication of her latest book, Blue Nights. Didion, an icon of literary L.A. despite living in New York much of her...
“My stories seem to always involve people choosing to love other people, in spite...”
– Image ◊ Good Letters: The IMAGE Blog ◊ That Kind of Love
The Kids Are Actually Sort of Alright →
Oh, Gen Y. We’ll figure it out.
“When women are blunt, maybe it’s seen as ‘tough,’ but actually it’s just...”
– Sally Singer on her old boss Anna Wintour, in The New Yorker’s profile of Jill Abramson. (via citizenkerry)
Continuing uses for cheerleading: kickboxing class. You may make a complete ass of yourself, but you’ll do so with sharp, tight movements. (See also: previous mentions of automatic smiling in group exercise environments.)
America Magazine - St. Jude Among the Brambles →
Among the many reasons I adore Chene Heady.
Positions of Privilege
lareviewofbooks:
MATTHEW SPECKTOR on Joan Didion’s Blue Nights. Joan Didion © Ed Wexler The Los Angeles Review of Books gives its pages this week to discussions of Joan Didion on the occasion of her latest book, Blue Nights. Didion, an icon of literary L.A. despite living in New York much of her life, wrote in 1976 that “[t]o shift the structure of a sentence alters the meaning of that...
“Countless people have been devastated for reasons that cannot be explained or...”
– Dear Sugar (via katiecoyle)
“There’s an awful temptation to just keep on researching. There comes a point...”
– David McCullough (via austinkleon)
This is probably great advice for people writing books, but is TOP-NOTCH EXCELLENT ADVICE for people writing dissertations. (via ewilcox)
Personal fatal flaw.
Flavorwire » Read David Foster Wallace’s... →
Imagine being Joel Lovell, indeed. Can he please come back into my life? Yeesh.
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“In times of trouble, I had been trained since childhood, read, learn, work it...”
– Joan Didion
katiecoyle replied to your link: Worst Cities for Young People, from Seattle to Cincinnati: Photos - The Daily Beast
This is surprising to me! I really would have thought it was one of the better ones. I don’t know why.
I believe we’ve been previously listed as one of the best as it’s cheap to live here or something. (When I’m cold, I’m more likely to disparage our city...
Worst Cities for Young People, from Seattle to... →
Go, Pittsburgh, #7. (That Richmond does better makes me have feelings. We all know how I feel about Richmond.)
“Remember how Archimedes, when speaking of the power of leverage, said “Give me a...”
– Rae Armantrout’s Q&A at Smartish Pace is awesome.
(Also, this description of why she doesn’t feel comfortable writing narrative really hits home for me.)
“Poetry holds the knowledge that we are alive and that we know we’re going to...”
– On today’s Fresh Air, poet Marie Howe discusses several of her poems, which deal with topics such as loss, love, spirituality, gender, sexuality and intimacy. (via nprfreshair)
“Understanding Archimedes is like understanding the most elegant joke in the...”
– Walters researchers decode the secrets of the Archimedes Palimpsest - Page 3 - Baltimore Sun
Book Review: Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone -... →
