Okay, there have surely been worse bestsellers in the 48 years since, but probably none that were deliberately bad. Producer Sam Kim has assembled the first-hand story of the newspaper writers who pulled of one of the great “literary” (if that’s the word) hoaxes of the 20th century. (audio)
Gerard Manley Hopkins’s Poetry Deserves To Be Included In The Gay Canon
Hopkins? Arguably the most fervently Catholic poet in the English language? Oh yes. “The more one reads Hopkins, the more one becomes convinced that his particular torture was to have realised the intensely carnal nature of his own spirituality.”
If Strads Lose In Blind Tests With New Violins, That’s Good News For Musicians
With Stradivarius instruments being found to sound no better than top-quality new violins in test after test, Hazel Rowland argues that violinists can be free of the tyranny of limited Strad supply and seven-figure prices. (Even so, as Rowland acknowledges, the power of the myth will persist.)
Why Alan Gilbert’s Time At The NY Philharmonic Mattered
“I reckon his tenure was at least 80 percent successful, though in a recent interview with the Times he seemed dissatisfied. “To a degree I lost my stomach to fight for things,” he said, “because I thought we were doing good work generally, and musically things were going in the direction I wanted them to.” That startlingly candid statement suggests that, in Gilbert’s mind at least, the Philharmonic registered his prodding not as an incitement to inventiveness but as a form of artistic nagging. It balked at too much reinvention.”
Best Place To Write? Surrounded By Books, Of Course
Yep, in a public space in the library: “Few things are as treasured by writers as privacy, that place where you can tune out the world and live in the alternate one on your page. I found it in one of the most public places imaginable, crowded with tour groups and class visits, a must stop in the guide books. For over twenty years I have been writing in the New York Public Library—eight novels and a ninth underway—and I can’t imagine working anywhere else.”
A Landscape Architect’s Quest To Understand The American Campsite
They’re sites, he says, where “consumerism and wilderness collide,” and where campers consistently bring more and more of the comforts of home (raising the question of what “camping” might actually mean).
Books Are Garbage
A meditation upon the titles we throw away: “I no longer go to church, since here in the Catskills we have the dump. Ours is the purest iteration of the cathedral: on a windswept rise under a ceiling of sky, the enclosing mountains the choir waiting silently to begin. Beneath the metal eaves of a soaring peaked roof, mortal leavings gather.”
How Oskar Eustis Fell In Love With Theatre
“The counterculture of the early 1970s, when I was forging my independence, was a strange and often incoherent brew of politics, self-expression, spiritual seeking, gender fluidity and art-making. It was a heady time, and while it wasn’t exactly bliss to be alive, it was a time of remarkable possibility. It was also the time when I fell in love with the avant-garde theater.”
Bestselling Authors Who Are Thriving WIthout Ever Being On The Bestseller Lists
A handful of writers who top the Kindle charts, including LJ Ross and Rachel Abbott, have defied rejections from publishers and agents to knock out seven-figure sales for their brand of crime and thriller writing. This, in a market where it only takes around 3,000 sales to top the hardback charts.
How The Oregon Shakespeare Festival Is Catching The Attention Of America’s Theatre World Elite
“Among the 600 professionals annually employed by OSF are the 100 actors who make up its repertory acting company — the largest repertory troupe in the country, ranging from new faces to actors who are 20-year veterans. (Among its alumni: Denis Arndt, nominated for a Tony this year for “Heisenberg.”) With diversity a major concern for Broadway and the theater industry at large, 61% of this year’s OSF ensemble are actors of color.”
How Watching Congressional Hearings Became An American Pastime
“Turning on the television to follow the action is a relatively new practice. It dates back to a set of dramatic crime syndicate investigations in the 1950s that became a televised political theater triumph – and set the stage for what has become a uniquely American pastime.”
The Legendary Strand Bookstore At 90
Now the shop boasts an advertised “18 miles” of new, used and rare books, many of which Fred Bass himself has procured through private estates and overseas sales. “Part of my job is going out to look at estates — it’s a treasure hunt,” Bass told NY Mag in 2014, describing New York as “an incredible source — a highly educated group of people in a concentrated area, with universities and Wall Street wealth. The libraries are here.”
Can A Podcast Save A Near-Extinct Native Alaskan Language?
“Recently, advocates who have been establishing means of revitalizing Alaska Native languages have created new opportunities for the preservation of Tlingit. Perhaps the most creative effort has been that of the Sealaska Heritage Institute, a non-profit based in Juneau that promotes understanding of Southeastern Alaska Native cultures. In late 2016, it produced two phone applications and a podcast that aim to teach users the Tlingit language.”
Big Aztec Temple Found Under Downtown Mexico City Streets
“The discoveries were made on a nondescript side street just behind the city’s colonial-era Roman Catholic cathedral off the main Zocalo plaza on the grounds of a 1950s-era hotel. The underground excavations reveal a section of what was the foundation of a massive, circular-shaped temple dedicated to the Aztec wind god Ehecatl and a smaller part of a ritual ball court, confirming accounts of the first Spanish chroniclers to visit the Aztec imperial capital, Tenochtitlan.”
How Dance Partners Create Chemistry Onstage
“Three pairs of dancers, two in New York and one in India, share their experiences finding mutual balance in a physically challenging medium.”
Five Moments When Classical Music Met Geopolitics
Under the headings “A Cold War Coup,” “A Postwar Requiem,” “A Fallen Wall,” “A Mideast Conflagration,” and “A Diverse Ensemble,” Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim introduces video clips of the occasions.
The World’s Most-Visited Museum Is No Longer The Louvre
In fact, in 2016, Paris’s flagship museum was in third place. The leader in visitor traffic may surprise you – until you think about it for a sec.
The New York Times Talks To 67 Tony Voters And Makes Its Predictions
“Here’s what we learned: There is an apparent consensus about the season’s four best performances … as well as the season’s best revivals … But Tony voters are deeply divided about the season’s new work, with the race for best new play, as well as the one for best new musical, far too close to call.”
Roman Polanski’s 1977 Rape Victim To Ask Court To End Case Against Him
“Samantha Geimer was 13 years old when Polanski assaulted her in Los Angeles in 1977. In recent years, she has said repeatedly that she has forgiven Polanski, now 83, but Friday’s appearance would make the first time Geimer has appeared publicly at a court hearing in the case.”
Pennsylvania Ballet Names Interim Executive Director From National Symphony And Curtis Institute
“[Elizabeth] Warshawer’s most recent high-profile role was as executive vice president, chief operating officer, and chief financial officer of the Curtis Institute of Music. She held the post until 2015, overseeing such major initiatives as the development of strategic plans, the launch of major online initiatives, and construction of a new building with dorms and rehearsal spaces. She is currently interim executive director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington.” Current executive director David Gray leaves this month.
Venice’s Guggenheim Collection Appoints New Director (With Personal Ties)
Not only is Karole Vail a Guggenheim stalwart — she has been on staff since 1997 and organized the sweeping retrospective “Moholy-Nagy: Future Present” last year — but she also has personal ties to the institution: Peggy Guggenheim was her grandmother.