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October 2, 2011
Shorties (Haruki Murakami, Richmond Fontaine, and more)
The Independent previews the English translation of Haruki Murakami's 1Q84.
The Early Buzz
1Q84 was wildly successful on publication in Japan, selling one million copies in just two months. As a result, it's hotly anticipated here, too. The Guardian reported that "his publishers took the unusual decision to ask two of his regular translators, Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel, to work simultaneously on the three books to speed up the production of an English version". An extract was published in The New Yorker, and in an accompanying Q&A Murakami said: "Whenever I write a novel, I have a strong sense that I am doing something I was unable to do before. I move up a step and discover something new inside me. I don't see this novel as a departure, but I do think it has been a major step in my career."
Willy Vlautin talks to the Oregonian about the new Richmond Fontaine album, The High Country.
The New Yorker lists facts about author Jonathan Franzen.
During the nineties, he never missed an episode of "Married … with Children."
The Independent lists six of the best poetic pilgrimages in Europe.
The Chicago Tribune lists the 10 best graphic novels for Halloween.
Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles talks to to the Philadelphia Inquirer about the band's new album Sweetheart of the Sun.
Hoffs also talks to the Boston Herald about the band's reunion.
David Margolick talks to Weekend Edition about his new book, Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock.
Leslie Feist talks to the Toronto Star about her new album, Metals (out October 4th).
The brisk pace of the album's creation has left it with an appealingly unvarnished quality. The mood is cloudy and insular and uncertain, and the music crapes and stretches and clatters in unusual directions throughout. Feist likens the loose-limbed process of their creation to orienteering, where "you're given a map and a compass and there's marks in the woods and the stopwatch gets clicked and you just run off trying to orient yourself . . . We all knew the terrain and how we had to get there and everyone kind of planned their own way and we met at the other end of the song."
Helen Oyeyemi talks to Weekend Edition about her new novel Mr. Fox.
All Things Considered talks to the producers of the forthcoming compilation album The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams.
Chad Harbach talks to All Things Considered about his debut novel The Art of Fielding.
On sale for $3.99 at Amazon MP3: the Ben Folds Five's Whatever and Ever Amen album.
At the New York Times, authors Coim Toibin and Jeffrey Eugenides discuss writing.
Win a copy of Craig Thompson's new graphic novel Habibi and a $100 Threadless gift certificate in this week's Largehearted Boy contest.
Amazon MP3
Follow me on Twitter, Google+, and Stumbleupon for links (updated throughout the day) that don't make the daily "Shorties" columns.
also at Largehearted Boy:
previous Shorties posts (news and links from the worlds of music, books, and pop culture)
Atomic Books Comics Preview (the week's best new comics & graphic novels)
daily mp3 downloads
Largehearted Word (the week's best new books)
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from this week's CD releases)
weekly music & DVD release lists
