On April 7th, the fifteen libraries in Jackson Country, Oregon, will close due to lack of funding, including the loss of nearly $7 million in federal money this year. This is being called the largest library shutdown in U.S. history.
The San Francisco Chronicle looks at the growing field of hip-hop studies.
The Guardian's Giles Foden defends the term literary:
This genealogy of literariness is something of which we should all be proud, writers and readers alike. We should certainly not pretend literariness is something other than what it is, though there is actually a long tradition of doing just that. At some point in the history of English literature, literariness became a bad thing, something elitist, decadent and sexually ambiguous, certainly not socially useful or morally pure.
From Variety: "Director Mark Romanek was scouting locations for WB's adaptation of "A Million Little Pieces" when author James Frey went from literary darling to pariah after admitting that parts of his book were fictionalized. The pic stalled when Frey was vilified on "Oprah," but now Warners and producers Plan B and John Wells are still trying to figure out if it can be salvaged. The latest: Tod Williams is attempting a new draft that will include the Frey controversy as a plot point."
Jonathan Lethem, who will be making an appearance at Raleigh's Quail Ridge Books & Music on March 26th, is interviewed by the Boston Globe.
Nick Cave talks about his new band, Grinderman.
The Columbus Dispatch interviews the great rock critic Greil Marcus:
Q: Is there a record you have no qualms about calling perfect from start to finish?
A: The first Rolling Stones album because it was just so audacious. It still is so audacious. It doesn’t matter whether what they’re playing is good or bad. The spirit is there, first moment to last.Any other album that I’d say "Oh, this is a great record; this is what it’s all about" is definitely going to have one song on it that I hate — like, say, Time Out of Mind and Make You Feel My Love. Oh, please: Where is Engelbert Humperdinck when we need him?
Rock critics are like a scab that must be picked. I find myself listening to that NPR rock show, Sound Opinions, even though those two assclowns who host it make me want to stab myself in the eyes.
Posted by: Jimmy Beck | March 05, 2007 at 12:56 PM