From ReadySteadyBook, an interview with Peter Robertson, Associate Editor of The Mad Hatters' Review. From The Village Voice, how a few black publishers are making a play for the Maxim man. Geek is cool. No, really—in an “I’m so uncool I’m cool” kind of way. Where is US journalism headed? A review of The Rise of the Blogosphere: American Backgrounds by Aaron Barlow. Can Murdoch pass the stink test? Assessing the mogul against the standards of the Dow Jones code of conduct.
From California Literary Review, suppose one’s made a viable, literate translation that succeeds in conveying the narrative or expository sense of an original. What if it turns out that one’s own culture resists it, and refuses to receive it? Form Cabinet, Joshua Foer on a Minor History of Miniature Writing. Into the Fold: Physicist Robert Lang has taken the ancient art of origami to new dimensions. The introduction to Priests and Programmers: Technologies of Power in the Engineered Landscape of Bali by J. Stephen Lansing. Furniture that came in from the cold: Garden chairs and artifacts are the new antiques, and they are migrating indoors. What's so bad about replicas? The Cutty Sark is to undergo yet more restoration work after being ravaged by fire. At what point does it cease to be the original ship?
From FT, culture leaves home: Art forms are breaking out of their traditional domains and London’s Tate Modern is leading the way. A review of The Aesthetics of Disengagement: Contemporary Art and Depression by Christine Ross. Their glossy and frequently rather smug “postmodernism”, which refuses to acknowledge any authority other than previous horror movies, masks a fear that such authority is all too real, and is probably furious with them. A review of Freedom to Offend: How New York Remade Movie Culture by Raymond J. Haberski Jr. From Mute, as the scarcity essential to the cultural commodity is undermined by digital abundance and social networking, social relations and the unique "live" performance are all that's left to sell. Mass market music increasingly resembles relational art with its dream of waking the ‘zombies’ of consumer culture, but are the citizens of Web 2.0 society born again or undead? Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar: An article on BDSM in popular music.
The Royal Me: Not that long ago, only the aristocratic or famous felt entitled to special privileges, but nowadays we seem to be living in an age of excessive exceptionalism. A look at how your name can reveal your status. A Hobby That’s Part Party, Part Debate, All Intellect: Robert Rosenkranz is leveraging his standing — and a small percentage of his wealth — in search of the ultimate dinner party conversation. Here’s great thinking: wine makes you philosophical. She'll Drink to That: In her books, Barbara Holland praises old-time social pleasures.
A review of Love, Life, Goethe: How to be Happy in an Imperfect World by John Armstrong. MySpace vs. Workplace: During the day you're all business; at night you like to let loose and have some fun. No problem with that — unless you share your adventures with others on the Internet. Don't work too hard; it's bad for you: An excerpt from Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success. A review of The Science of Success: How Market-Based Management Built the World's Largest Private Company by Charles G. Koch. A review of The Power of Business en Espanol: 7 Fundamental Keys to Unlocking the Potential of the Spanish-Language Hispanic Market. The status of Spanish as America's second language has been confirmed by the 2006 census, which showed the nation's minority population topped 100 million for the first time. Of those more than 44 million were Hispanic.
