Like all promises, I made one on Friday that has to be broken. TJ and I tried to have the project ready by this morning, but it just wasn't to be. As you'll see tomorrow when we finally do get this thing online (I promise), it has turned out to be a lot of work. But it has been worth it. I think you'll find it a useful addition to all of the year end this and thats floating around these days. While it isn't exactly that type of list, it could very well help you decide how to spend your Borders gift card. So check back in tomorrow. Was that vague enough and do I really need to be this vague? Stay tuned. Until then:
John Nichols of The Nation takes a look at the lyrical politics of Eugene McCarthy who passed away this weekend at age 89: "McCarthy's literary bent tended to put off fellow senators, who sometimes dismissed him as too prone to rumination and independent thinking for the game of politics. But it sat well with the ragtag band of political dreamers who dared believe they could defeat a sitting president, end a foolish war and set right a nation."
The release of Brokeback Mountain will inspire a number of columns discussing the translation of literary text to the screen (among other things), so here's a preview from the Denver Post:
[Script co-writer Diana Ossana] corralled Larry McMurtry, who told her he didn't read short fiction. McMurtry is no snob; he views the short story as a desperately difficult form. "The only thing harder than a short story is a lyric poem," he said. "The reason I don't read short stories is because I never could write them."
Ossana prevailed. McMurtry read "Brokeback Mountain" and proclaimed it the finest short story he ever read in The New Yorker, which is akin to Sandy Koufax calling Roger Clemens the best pitcher he ever saw in a World Series.
The Boston Globe's Bob Duffy reviews this year's edition of The Best American Sport's Writing.
Just how much of a mark have Jewish writers made on U.S. literature since WWII? An interesting article in the Baltimore Sun examines this question in great detail.
Could it be that the NHL's Colorado Avalanche decided to put its minor league team in Lowell, Mass. because of the strong connection both cities have to Kerouac and the Beats? Probably not, but it's interesting to imagine demoted hockey players brushing up on their Beatnik literature on the bus ride to New England.
From the above article comes this link to Denver's Beat Poetry Driving Tour. I may be passing through Denver in a few weeks, but don't know if I'll have time to check this out.
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