Where, oh where, oh where is Shadow? The answer will soon be: on Starz network. That’s right, Neil Gaiman’s fantasy novel American Gods is being made into a TV show, with Gaiman acting as executive producer. The search for the actor to play the lead, ex-con Shadow Moon, is on. The book tells the story of old mythological gods readying themselves for battle with new gods of excess (money, drugs…all that good bad stuff) in contemporary America. Let’s just hope the disappointing ending gets a rework. Gaiman seems happy with the idea of an adaptation — in a statement, he said he’s “thrilled, scared, delighted, nervous and a ball of glorious anticipation,” and also “relieved and confident that my baby is in good hands.”
Next year will be the 20th anniversary of Tupac Shakur’s death, and in that time he he’s been deified, demonized and theorized about endlessly. When that anniversary rolls around next year, there’ll doubtless be a bazillion more thinkpieces — but today, on what would’ve been his 44th birthday, we suggest that instead of offering some empty and generic ‘RIP legend’-type tribute, that you read Angus Batey’s thoughtful piece from April about the quality of his musical output — minus all the surrounding hoo-ha (and the “No, wait, he’s totally still alive!”-type conspiracy theories, too.)
Adderall might be one of the few drugs that doesn’t get extensive discussion in Infinite Jest, but that doesn’t mean that the great David Foster Wallace didn’t pay America’s favorite prescribed stimulant any attention in his work. At HopesAndFears.com, there’s a very interesting article highlighting the links between Adderall and Wallace’s last (unfinished, yet still published) novel The Pale King. Writer Daniel Kolitz points to character Chris Fogle’s 100-page reminiscence — which is the best part of the book — of his addiction to ’70s drug Obetrol, the forerunner to Adderall.
Guitar god Johnny Marr has given a detailed rundown of his favorite records of all time to The Quietus. Marr reveals the inspiration behind some classic Smiths riffs and offers up some pearlers, like this one about buying The Four Tops’ ‘Super Hits’:
I bought this record when it came out and all my mates thought I was either really, really old-fashioned or a freak. I knew I wasn’t old-fashioned but what was the alternative? The Boomtown fucking Rats?