From Prospect, the democracy of Don Quixote: Novelists have always turned their hands to essays, and the essay-writing novelist remains a literary force to be reckoned with. The two forms share an inherent pluralism and scepticism that makes them natural allies of democracy. The introduction to The Shadow of Death: Literature, Romanticism, and the Subject of Punishment by Mark Canuel.
From L'Espill, Catalan cultural products are seen as a political instrument rather than a response to genuine demand. As a result, it is easier for a Catalan author to get published in German or Dutch than in Castilian Spanish. Libraries in the desert: An article on preserving ancient literature in Mali. Are British public libraries ok? It depends on who you talk to, and what you read into statistics.
From TLS, Clive Wilmer reviews Selected Translations by Ted Hughes; and the new earnestness: A review of Granta 97: Best of Young American Novelists, 2. From Bromsgrove to Trinity: Paul Johnson reviews The Letters of A E Housman. More on Edith Wharton by Hermione Lee.
Lissa Warren on The Decline and Fall of the Book Review Section...and What It Means to Publishers. From Britannica, an article on reading and its well-contents; and a look at the book critics’ war on bloggers. Greece or Rome? Jordin or Blake? Star Wars or Lord of the Rings? It’s hard to resist comparing two obvious rivals, and Internet-based publications Salon and Slate are no exception. The return of the media queen: For more than a decade, as the British editor of the city's most influential magazines, Tina Brown was New York royalty. Now after a high-profile debacle she's back in style. Cashing in on the 60s: John Harris writes that before we idolise the generation that gave us the summer of love, we shouldn't forget how very easy it turned out to be for so many of them to go from hippie to yuppie.
Harry First (NYU): Microsoft and the Evolution of the Intellectual Property Concept; Nicholas Economides (NYU): "Net Neutrality", Non-Discrimination and Digital Distribution of Content Through the Internet; and Mary-Rose Papandrea (Boston College): Citizen Journalism and the Reporter’s Privilege. Burnt By The Man: How copyrighting, capitalism, and lawsuit chaos disturbed the radical utopia of Burning Man. More on The Little Book of Plagiarism. My Favorite Font: Anne Fadiman, Jonathan Lethem, Richard Posner, and others reveal what font they compose in and why. The inaugural issue of the International Journal of Design is out.
From The San Francisco Chronicle, an article on painting a picture of the creative mind and a look at what happens to us when art connects to the unconscious. From LRB, Boudoir Politics: A review of Lola Montez: Her Life and Conquests by James Morton; and a review of Walt Disney: The Biography by Neal Gabler; The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney by Michael Barrier; and Drawing the Line: The Untold Story of the Animation Unions from Bosko to Bart Simpson by Tom Sito. Whether it be opera or a lead role in a major motion picture, kids who pursue the arts often find themselves embracing two very different worlds. A review of Self-Help, Inc.: Makeover Culture in American Life by Micki McGee. And a review of A Practical Handbook for the Boyfriend by Felicity Huffman and Patricia Wolff
