Implementing an RSS reader can be an aggressive step towards organizing the glut of online information, but as the unread count grows, so does the anxiety—and culling feeds can be just as painful as discarding a book.
David L. Ulin, the LA Times book editor for the last five years, is moving from editor to critic.
Slow readers of the world unite! As we spend much of our time skimming websites, text messages, and emails, an English professor at the University of New Hampshire is making the case for slowing down to get more meaning and pleasure out of the written word.
In the New Statesman, Nadine Gordimer says “The World Cup is a big circus. . . . But literature, poetry, novels, stories—these are an exploration of life.” As the world focuses on South Africa for its football, Bookforum focuses on its literature: Lorraine Adams reviews Cion by Zakes Mda, Ian Volner reviews Portrait with Keys: The City of Johannesburg Unlocked by Ivan Vladislavic, Jennifer Egan reviews Other Lives by André Brink, Martin Puchner reviews Summertime by J. M. Coetzee and Siddhartha Deb reviews Coetzee's Diary of a Bad Year, Mary Gaitskill reviews Agaat by Marlene van Niekerk, and Caitlin Roper reviews 117 Days by Ruth First.
