September 2008
Unto this Last: John Ruskin's Economic and Political Writings
(19th-Century British art critic John Ruskin has made several appearances on LitKicks. Here, Michael Norris introduces us to a surprising side of Ruskin not widely known today: his economic and political essays. -- Levi)Irina Reyn, Rego Park and the Central Queens Lit Scene

War Stories

1. So Sarah Palin turns out to be a kickass orator. I'm glad, though I'm no more likely to vote for John McCain because of it. She speaks almost as well as Barack Obama, and that means we actually have two good orators in this presidential election (whereas in 2004 we had zero, and I do mean zero).
Reviewing the Review: September 7 2008
Books Are Hot
A few years ago, there was a meme floating around the intertubes that centered around the concept of literary speed dating, which is speed dating, except with books. The point was to list the books you'd take to such an event as a means of showcasing your personality, and also to list the books that, if you saw someone with them, you'd think were attractive picks.
Infernal

1. A pretty good animated and modernized movie version of Dante's Inferno has been running on the Ovation cable network. It's based on the excellent comic book version (set in squalid Los Angeles, California) by Marcus Sanders, Doug Harvey and Sandow Birk.
September 11: Collateral Damage

Reviewing the David Foster Wallace Obituaries: September 14 2008
Slavoj Zizek Meets Bernard-Henri Levy at the New York Public Library

Slavoj Zizek, a furry and fiery "rockstar philosopher" from Slovenia who calls himself a Communist and rages at the hypocrisy of wealthy American liberals, appeared in a raucous debate at the New York Public Library last night. Zizek's opposite partner was French activist and intellectual Bernard-Henri Levy, who typically argues for idealistic solutions and pragmatic steps towards a more peaceful world.
And Now For Something Completely Different...
Reviewing the Review: September 21 2008
How does Roth get away with this stuff? The cliffhanger, the obscure portent, the withholding of essential information? He doesn’t use these antiquated devices ironically.
Well, that's what I've been saying. He doesn't get away with it.
Junk Books and Junk Bonds (or, Sometimes the Book Game Reminds Me of the Bank Game)
The Reading Room

You see a wide variety of reading materials on the R train. Many languages, many formats, cheap novels, literary novels, lots of bibles and other religious literature, history books, tabloid reports of the day's tidings. Everybody is engrossed.

Hootenanny Time
i ran out t the phone booth
made a call t my wife. she wasnt home.
i panicked. i called up my best friend
but the line was busy
then i went t a party but couldnt find a chair
Inspiration vs. Dedication
I'm coming at today's post from a slightly off-topic direction, mainly because I'm thinking about inspiration and discipline and the idea comes from an off-topic place. I hope you can forgive me.


