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Books

15 Great Novels Set at Real-Life Colleges

By Emily Temple on

Now that it’s September, many of you are probably heading off to school — whether for the first time or the fourth — and even if you’re past school-age, the season does things to your heads, filling them with number 2 pencils and three hole punches and dreams of Philosophy textbooks. Or, at least, that’s all we can think about. College is an inspirational time, particularly for novelists: there is an entire genre based on the campus novel, including books about professors, students, and anyone else who spends a serious amount of time on the hallowed university grounds. In honor of the new school year, we’ve put together a list of great novels set at real-life colleges, whether explicitly stated or thinly veiled in their fictional forms. If you’re starting school this fall, you’d do well to check out what other people think of your new home and what you might expect from your next few years there, and if you’ve already finished, well, everyone likes to read about their alma mater, hopefully shouting out, ‘that’s not how it was!’ and ‘look, that’s me!’ in equal measure. Click through to see our list, and let us know if we’ve missed any of your favorite college novels in the comments. … Read More

Books

Yuppie Lit: Books About The Filthy Rich

By Kathleen Massara on

Macy Halford recently wrote in the New Yorker‘s Book Bench that she happened upon the “hipster lit” section of Bookhampton while browsing in its Sag Harbor location. The shelves are loaded with the usual suspects: Bolaño, Hornby, and Rimbaud. In the comments section, a rep from Bookhampton gushes, “Bukowski and McSweeney’ [sic] as well as the ultimate female hipster Jennifer Egan (Visit from Goon Squad) and Patti Smith jumped off the shelves this morning… We just put them back!”

Sixty-three years after Anatole Broyard published “A Portrait of the Hipster” in Partisan Review, we are still arguing about what constitutes a hipster. Instead of another essay on the topic, we thought choose a different tack and encourage an alternate list for those Hamptons residents and fair-weather visitors who are sick and tired of their bookstores being invaded by scowling tight-jeaned youths and adults wearing plaid shirts. We came up with a list of novels with acceptable characters for the lily-white denizens of the land where people use “summer” as a verb and argue about ancestors who were on the Mayflower or about who is from “new” money. (South- and East Hampton, we’re looking at you.) What are your suggestions for a Yuppie Lit genre, dear readers? … Read More

Books

The Many Incarnations of Holden Caulfield

By Emily Temple on

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the publication of J.D. Salinger’s much-beloved novel, The Catcher in the Rye. The book has been much argued over in the years since its publication, but no one can deny that it has influenced countless artists, writers and troubled teenagers and had a lasting impact on American culture.  Holden is in many ways the original angsty American teen, sex-obsessed and confused, and as a tribute to the occasion of his 60th (or should we say, 77th?) year, we’ve collected a few of our favorite Holden variations, incarnations and iterations here. Click through to see our list of troubled teens, social dropouts, misguided misanthropes and other heirs to our dear Holden Caulfield, and let us know how the man, the myth, the legend has affected your own inner life in the comments. But, of course, don’t be phony. … Read More

Books

Literary Love Letters To Los Angeles

By Kathleen Massara on

A while back we did a post on literary love letters to NYC, but we knew at some point we should honor the entertainment capital of the world, so today is our offering for Los Angeles. It’s a tough town, as the authors below know all too well, and it can be a very dark place sometimes. But as long as people keep dreaming of their name in lights, LA will remain as the city to go to become a star. So here’s to all the film buffs, rock stars, and waiters waiting for a lucky break — keep toughing it out, and enjoy the scenery in the meantime. All hail Tinseltown, in all its troubled, frightening glory. … Read More

Books

Great Parties in Literature We Wish We Could Have Attended

By Judy Berman on

After our recent roundup of 25 great parties on film, it occurred to us that movies aren’t the only medium to have depicted fantastic fêtes. So, to help you gear up for a celebratory July 4th weekend, we reached out to Flavorpill staff and readers alike to get their nominations for liteature’s best bash. With their help, we’ve come up with a list of ten great gatherings we would love to have attended. Keep the party going by adding your favorites in the comments. … Read More

Books

Readers' Choice: 20 More Author-On-Author Insults

By Emily Temple on

We hoped that when we listed our picks for the harshest author-on-author insults in history, you readers would have some of your own favorite barbs and witticisms to suggest. And goodness, you didn’t disappoint! Accordingly, and so as to continue the guilty pleasure of literary insult-mania, we’ve compiled a follow-up list of some of the best suggestions from the group. Note: many of you yearned for Harlan Ellison, but though he certainly has many deliciously to-the-point quotes to his name, we couldn’t seem to think of a choice example where he was directly insulting another author, so any Ellison fans out there with a direct quote, be sure to let us know. Click through for twenty more choice author-on-author insults, as beloved and nominated by our readers! … Read More

Film

25 Great Parties on Film We Wish We Could Have Attended

By Judy Berman on

Movies teach us how to party. Think about it: How many teen movies — almost all of which inevitably end in some kind of dance or parents-out-of-town blowout — did you watch before you were actually old enough to go to a high-school party? From sophisticated dinner gatherings to all-night ragers, we’ve all fantasized about scoring an invite to one of the glamorous parties we’ve seen on the big screen. With summer in full swing and theme ideas for our own future fêtes in mind, we asked the experts in Flavorpill’s extended family to tell us which celluloid party they’d most like to have attended. Their picks, and ours, are after the jump. … Read More

News

The Morning's Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on

1. According to TMZ, Charlie Sheen’s people are in “deep negotiations” with a major network (we’re guessing it’s probably Fox) for a new sitcom that’s being written specifically for him and could air as early as next January. There aren’t many other details, but we’ll go ahead and guess that Chuck Lorre is… Read More

Books

Artists Remix Classic Book Covers

By Kathleen Massara on

For the past seven years, Katie Cromwell and Jensen Carp at Gallery 1988 have been showcasing pop culture-themed artwork to a new generation of LA residents. This month Cromwell and Carp are exhibiting (and selling) 45 limited-edition posters inspired by novels we all know and love, curated by OMGPosters and Rob Jones. At Flavorpill, we can appreciate a good remix, so we’ve picked our favorites from the lot for your viewing pleasure. From James Flames’ homage to the Velveteen Rabbit (complete with cute floppy ears and a leaky eye) to Big Brother’s penetrating gaze (from Doublenaut’s tribute to Nineteen Eighty-Four), there’s something that will appeal to a wide range of bibliophiles.

If you’re in LA, we strongly suggest you stop over at Gallery 1988 on Melrose and LaBrea before the exhibition closes at the end of this month. If you’re not but still want to see more pictures, check out Marina Galperina’s post at Animal New York. … Read More

Books

Fictional Novels Starring Non-Fictional Authors

By Stephanie Hlywak on

Authors often appear in their own works of fiction as thinly veiled surrogates — Kilgore Trout is widely believed to be Kurt Vonnegut’s alter ego, and Hunter S. Thompson is barely distinguishable from Raoul Duke — but occasionally authors also infiltrate their own stories as characters named for themselves. Whether purely narcissistic or a tool of artistic commentary, the author-as-character literary technique lends an element of surrealism to the reading experience and draws attention to both the act of narration and the act of creation — as well as their shared unreliability. Check out these novels in which the author appears as himself (or at least a fictionalized version thereof) and see for yourself. … Read More