Rejoice, habitual imbibers of the magic herb. This year, the smoke-filled 4/20 falls on a Saturday, so you can celebrate the holiday unencumbered by the work day. If you’d like to supplement today’s festivities with a little bit of quality reading but can’t bear the obvious drug-addled narratives or trippy lit, we’ve got you covered with a list of highbrow books for smarty-pants… Read More
Charles Baudelaire
10 Famous Writers on How to Drink
This week, we read a fascinating essay by famed journalist H.L. Mencken, also known as the Sage of Baltimore, entitled “How to Drink Like a Gentleman: The Things to Do and the Things Not To, as Learned in 30 Years’ Extensive Research.” Needless to say, we learned quite a bit, and, eager for more advice on life’s finer things from literary types, we’ve collected a few quotes from famous writers on how to drink. Pick up some tips after the jump, and if we’ve missed your favorite missive, add it to our list in the comments. … Read More
Tournament of Books Organizers Pick the Winners of 12 Classic Literary Beefs
Today is the first day of The Morning News‘s epic annual Tournament of Books, an excellent and wordy alternative (or supplement) to March Madness for all us literary types. To celebrate, we asked the ToB’s organizers — the venerable Rosecrans Baldwin, Kevin Guilfoile, John Warner, and Andrew Womack — to act as judges for a few imaginary literary match-ups. Because who doesn’t want to imagine the results of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky throwing down? After the jump, find out who would win in a fight — Mailer or Vidal, Hemingway or Faulkner, Dorothy Parker or anybody, and more. Don’t agree? Argue your literary hearts out in the comments, and then be sure to get in on the real-life highbrow smackdown here. … Read More
10 Early Radical Poets
It was 155 years ago today that French poet Charles Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du mal (The Flowers of Evil) was published, leading to his prosecution for obscenity charges. He was heavily fined and struggled with a ban against the work for years. Still, the volume centering on themes of eroticism, memory, death, corruption, and decadence had a number of admirers who applauded the poet’s unyielding words. Madame Bovary author Gustave Flaubert told Buadelaire he had “found a way to rejuvenate Romanticism,” while others called the work “immense, prodigious, and unexpected.”
Although his tempestuous, bohemian lifestyle and philosophies garnered much attention, Baudelaire’s radical use of composition and verse resonated and had a significant impact on later poets and the literary world at large. He wasn’t alone, however. We explored several other early radical poets past the break. As always, feel free to leave your own picks below. … Read More
Literary Legends Resurrected for Surreal Readings
Jim Clark’s animations resurrect legendary poets and literary figures from the past so we can enjoy readings of their famous works. The result is uncanny and somewhat hypnotizing — particularly when the animation appears to be totally seamless with the photographic image used. The sound of an old LP crackling and the scratchy film quality adds to the ambience. Light a few candles, and check out a few of our favorite readings past the break. … Read More
10 Writers Who Moonlighted as Dandies
Dandyism is more than just a dress code. A dandy believes that, through a refined command of dress and manners, he or she can impress their greatness upon the world. This meant that a dandy could live a rather indolent, carefree lifestyle and still be regarded as influential and powerful despite not being born into wealth. It makes sense that so many writers were of the dandy sort, given the meager income their career path promised. This pursuit of elegance gave them access to bon vivance in Paris, lifestyles of jet-setting between the Swiss Alps and the Riviera, summers in coastal cottages, or early retirement (before retirement was even deemed acceptable). Dandyism is a interplay between fashion and mannerism, a perfect blend of style, sophistication, and caprice. Here we take a look at 10 authors who successfully made elegance, not just writing, an esteemed profession. … Read More
Miru Kim: Exploring Urban Environments, Nude
Miru Kim is fearless. She ventures into places to make her art that most of us would neither enter nor risk arrest to be in: underground tunnels, sewers, abandoned factories, power plants, the tops of bridges and churches. Once she arrives at these hidden and desolate places, Kim explores the setting, finds the best point of view, puts her camera on a tripod, and removes her clothes — in order to take some of the most engaging photographs of the moment.
The nude has a rich history in art, and its use as subject matter is constantly evolving, especially in contemporary photography and video. Spencer Tunick uses naked bodies to create installations of flowing flesh in public places, which he captures in photography and exhibits as prints; Katy Grannan finds her subjects via classified ads and photographs them nude or provocatively clothed in the privacy of their homes and in nature; and Pipilotti Rist puts sensuality center stage in her surreal video fantasies, where fruits, flesh, and flowers merge to create moving… Read More
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