« older | Main Largehearted Boy Page | newer »
July 30, 2009
Shorties (Thomas Pynchon, The Decemberists, and more)
The New Yorker reviews Thomas Pynchon's new novel, Inherent Vice.
ThomasPynchon.com will roll out a Wiki for the book once it is published, containing "full index of characters real and imagined, page-by-page annotation, reviews."
Colin Meloy of the Decemberists talks to the Chicago Tribune's Turn It Up blog.
“Most rock musicals don’t work because of the music,” he says. “The Broadway musical used to be an art form that was financially viable even on the margins, and there were more people practicing it, more people invested in making it great. Now the musical is a niche that’s only really happening in New York, at least the financially viable stuff, and it’s run by huge corporations catering to tourists. It panders to the lowest common denominator, with schlock music that just gets worse and worse."
theBookseller.com compares sales of the novels longlisted for the Booker prize.
Sarah Waters’ The Little Stranger is the most popular title of those books from the Booker longlist currently available, with sales almost double those of its nearest rival.
Exclaim! interviews Jessica Hopper about her book, The Girls' Guide to Rocking.
Read Hopper's Led Zeppelin-centric Largehearted Boy Book Notes playlist for the book.
USA Today notes that Bob Marley's Legend has become only the 17th album to exceed sales of 10 million.
Yahoo's Shine blog lists the top 10 breakup songs of all time (from the book BUH BYE: The Ultimate Guide to Dumping and Being Dumped).
A Future in Noise lists "super chiptune genre busters."
NPR talks to the Posies about how bands make money in today's music industry.
IGN lists 8 awful albums by actors.
Newsweek interviews Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger of the Fiery Furnaces.
The Stranger lists the twelve best songs by Seattle band Throw Me the Statue.
At the Oxford American, author Kevin Brockmeier lists his 50 favorite short stories and novellas.
The Quietus discusses what's wrong with the Dirty Projectors and the "hipster mentality" in a tellingly-titled article, "Dirty Projectors & The Curse Of Brooklyn's Hipster Ephemera."
At Intelligent Life magazine, author Tom Shone examines what happens to writers once they quit drinking.
Win two of the year's best short story collections in this week's Largehearted Boy contest.
Follow me on Twitter for links that don't make the daily "Shorties" columns.
also at Largehearted Boy:
daily mp3 downloads
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from this week's CD releases)
weekly music & DVD release lists
tags: music books popculture indie news
