paper trail

Feb 17, 2011 @ 9:00:00 am

At The Rumpus, Jessica Probus imagines what it would be like to have sex with a list of books, beginning with Kafka’s Metamorphosis. And in the comments section, readers name the book that, were it human, they’d like to pick up in a bar.

Are e-books more permanent than print? Now that Borders is filing bankruptcy, Kobo has had to reassure its customers on the company’s FAQ page: “The Borders e-book experience is powered by Kobo, an entirely separate company from Borders. Kobo is financially secure and will continue to maintain your e-book library no matter what happens.”

At the Paris Review poet Kevin Young talks about his poetry volume Ardency, based on the true story of a nineteenth-century slave ship mutiny, and narrated in a dazzling mix of letters, songs, and poems. In Bookforum Craig Morgan Teicher writes: “It's powerful stuff, some of the prolific Young's best, driven by his ventriloquistic skills and sense of loss.”

Sean Walsh of McSweeney’s has gamely provided the Sparknotes to a children’s classic: “In Goodnight Moon, Brown explores the relationship between a young bunny and his material possessions set against the backdrop of the Cold War. . . . Plot Overview: A bunny says goodnight to the moon and other things.” Themes include “search for the masculine self.” And the possible essay questions...?

NYC to-do list tonight: author Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts reflects on the past, present, and future of Harlem. Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, Irish fiction writer Colm Toibin reads from his excellent new book of stories, The Empty Family.