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March 9, 2013
Shorties (Ghostwriting Sweet Valley High Books, Andrew W.K.'s Adoration of the Music of Robert Pollard, and more)
Talk of the Nation interviews author Amy Boesky about ghostwriting over 50 Sweet Valley High books.
"I've been getting these wonderful letters from readers, who are women now — who are lawyers, who are doctors, who grew up reading these books, sort of, under the covers with their flashlights. And their parents wanted them to be reading Jane Eyre or something more serious.
"I think many of us have a kind of guilty pleasure about some of this lighter cultural material, and I think there's room for both."
Andrew W.K. shares his adoration for the music of Robert Pollard at The Talkhouse.
I can't believe how much material he gets out — and its quality is so high-quality— almost too high. You could spend years enjoying just one of his albums, yet he's already released four albums this year alone. Each album could be its own universe, and each song its own planet to explore, but instead he's created multiple universes and alternate universes within universes, and that's just the beginning of his entire universe. You could definitely ONLY listen to Robert Pollard music and be super well-stocked with tunes for a long time. It's one of those rare cases where the more he does, the better it all gets. Maybe he's still on fire from the same initial epiphany that's kept him inspired this whole time — one continuous massive rocking vibe. Or maybe it's been an ever-changing journey of extreme dynamics and methods and efforts.
The Baltimore Sun interviews author Taiye Selasi about her debut novel Ghana Must Go.
All Things Considered interviews Dave Grohl about his new documentary Sound City: Real to Real.
The Hindu interviews author Elif Batuman.
Tell us about the novel you are now writing...
It's called The Two Lives and it's about a non-fiction journalist for a New Yorker-like publication, and how her personal life intersects/ interacts with the lives of the people she writes about. It's also told in self-standing essayistic chapters, like The Possessed. The title is from Chekhov's "Lady with Lapdog", about the man who realises he's living two lives. (In The Possessed, Batuman says: "I especially remember the passage about how everyone has two lives — one open and visible, full of work, convention, responsibilities, jokes, and the other 'running its course in secret' — and how easy it is for circumstances to line up so that everything you hold most important, interesting, and meaningful is somehow in the second life, the secret one.")
Spinner lists 10 musicians turned photographers.
Susan Spencer-Wendel talks to Weekend Edition about her new book, Until I Say Good-Bye: My Year of Living with Joy.
Paste lists 11 veteran acts to see at SXSW Music 2013.
Atlas Genius visits The Current studio for an interview and live performance.
Flavorwire lists pairs of great books with great books.
Typographical Era lists 10 music biographies you may have missed.
A 1962 Paris Review interview with author Henry Miller about his writing process.
At VICE, Blake Butler compares the prose of Anne Carson and George Saunders.
In Carson, a single sentence can transcend the entire operation. But then the sentence is a part of that, and continues to accrue. The sentences fit together where they touch, and the feeling that knits itself together as you go opens the world up. It continues the world rather than seek to explain it. It provides mystery among so much meat.
Amazon MP3 offers 100 albums on sale for $5 each.
Amazon MP3 offers over 1,400 albums on sale for $3.99.
Amazon MP3
Amazon MP3 offers over 400 jazz albums on sale for $1.78.
Amazon MP3
Follow me on Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Google+, Facebook, and Stumbleupon for links (updated throughout the day) that don't make the daily "Shorties" columns.
also at Largehearted Boy:
previous Shorties posts (daily news and links from the worlds of music, books, and pop culture)
The list of online "best of 2012" book lists
The list of online "best of 2012" music lists
100 Online Sources for Free and Legal Music Downloads
Atomic Books Comics Preview (the week's best new comics & graphic novels)
Book Notes (authors create playlists for their book)
daily mp3 downloads
Largehearted Word (the week's best new books)
musician/author interviews
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from this week's CD releases)
weekly music & DVD release lists
