ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

WORDS

The Two Meanings Of “Irony”

The first meaning of the word goes back more than two millennia; the second dates back less than two centuries.  Ben Yagoda explains. - Literary Hub

The “Velveteen Rabbit” As A Philosophy

First published in book form in 1922 by a little-known novelist named Margery Williams Bianco, it has now been in print for a century, selling over a million copies in the U.S. alone. - New York Magazine

A Guide To All 25 National Book Award Finalists

Which debut novel might hear its name called? Will nonfiction about viruses or chronic illness defeat Imani Perry's sweeping take on the history of the South? And in young people's literature, will a high school lesbian crush or a 12-year-old Chinese American in Minnesota prevail? - Vox

Amazon Enables The Shady, Lucrative Book Rip-Off Business

Summary Culture gone wild: "I was flattered that these folks, whoever they are, had bothered to rip off my book. But I was also pissed. I was angry on behalf of any and all unsuspecting readers who had ordered a workbook, only to receive these worthless word salads." - The Atlantic

How Did Harper Bliss Write Nearly 40 Novels In Eleven Years?

Well, first of all, the romance author doesn't think that's quite enough: "I’m now writing my third book this year. I always aim for four. Four is like the magic number, but I don’t think it’s actually happened." - Slate

At HarperCollins, The People Who Make The Books Are On Strike

"It's been a long negotiation process for the approximately 250 union members. This includes people working in publicity, design, marketing and more - all the parts of putting out a book that you usually don't see." - NPR

The Perpetual Importance Of The Essay

Novelist and essayist Alexander Chee edited the 2022 version of Best American Essays. "Writers and publishers—and for that matter, readers—are increasingly embracing what he calls 'a very elastic art form … a form that can sustain a great deal of shape-changing and transformation.'" - LitHub

How To Celebrate Kurt Vonnegut Just After His 100th Birthday

Watch Gore Vidal utterly roast him; read a biography; watch him riff on the arc of the characters in Hamlet; and, of course, read his work. - LitHub

The Reason Deaf People Were Historically Excluded Wasn’t That They Couldn’t Hear

"Speech, rather than hearing, has been at the heart of deaf exclusion throughout history. People who were born deaf, or were deafened before they learned to speak (prelingually deaf) were placed in a special category" — typically one that treated them as infants or as cognitively disabled. - History Today

HarperCollins Workers Are Officially On Strike

"Some 250 copy editors, marketing assistants and other employees at HarperCollins Publishers went on strike Thursday, with the two sides differing over wages and benefits, diversity policy and union protection." - AP

Why You Should Write A Really Bad Novel

I don’t think you should write 50,000 words in a month in hopes that you will get discovered and Penguin Random House will buy your Next Great American Novel, Gatorade for Lemurs. I think you should do NaNoWriMo to stick it to capitalism. - Slate

China’s 400-Year-Old Women-Only Script Is Having A Revival

Nüshu, a phonetic, syllabic script (as opposed to the standard Chinese ideogram characters) used by and between women, developed in a rural area of Hunan province.  It nearly died out during and after the Cultural Revolution, but interest has revived and it's being taught once again. (video) - BBC

Margaret Atwood And Wayne McGregor Make A Ballet Out Of “MaddAddam”

Atwood says, "I just want to know how you are going to get around the giant blue penises."  McGregor's only response (other than laughter) is "It's not a literal interpretation but a leap of faith." - Financial Times

They’ve Found The Oldest Known Sentence To Be Written In An Alphabet

There are more ancient surviving writings in hieroglyphics and cuneiform, but the inscription on this 3,700-year-old personal-care item is the oldest to use letters that represent sounds. What does it say? "May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard." - The Guardian

Judge Puts The Kibosh On Random House Acquisition Of Simon and Schuster (Not Even Close)

“The government has presented a compelling case that predicts substantial harm to competition as a result of the proposed merger of PRH and S&S,” Judge Florence Pan concluded. - Publishers Weekly

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