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David Sedaris

Los Angeles

Flavorpill Guide to the Week’s Top 10 LA Events

By Tanja M. Laden on

William Shatner once said, “I love living in Los Angeles,” and so do we. While there’s so much going on, it can be hard to keep track of it all. Fortunately, Flavorpill invites the entire community to make suggestions with its gorgeous city-based culture guide — an open platform where our very own editors and curators meet and mingle with artists, gadabouts, and other tipsters for a limitless variety of both ongoing and one-off recommendations. With this in mind, please enjoy our weekly list of hand-picked event suggestions here on Flavorwire, and in the meantime, be sure to check out the new Flavorpill. We hope to see you there! … Read More

Books

10 Foolproof Books to Give as Gifts

By Emily Temple on

Tonight is World Book Night, an international event wherein devoted volunteers pick a favorite out of 30 books, selected by an independent panel of librarians and booksellers, and hand copies out in their communities, encouraging those who don’t normally read or have access to books to experience something new. In case you missed the boat on volunteering, but are inspired to gift a book to someone who doesn’t read very often, we’ve put together a list of foolproof gift books that (almost) everyone will love. Some of these have been selected as World Book Night books in the past, and some have not, but we think they all will encourage a brand new or rediscovered reading habit — and your reputation as an excellent gift-giver. Check out our list after the jump, and add to it at will in the comments. … Read More

Books

10 New Must-Reads For April

By Emily Temple on

Dear reader, we made it. Spring has taken its sweet time, but at long last we’re looking forward to weeks and weeks of nice weather — all the better for outdoors reading and breaks in sunny nooks. This month, we’re diving into works by new writers, established masters, and everyone in between. But will we be able to breathe again after reading the new David Sedaris collection? Check out the ten books we’re most excited about reading this… Read More

Books

The 25 Greatest Essay Collections of All Time

By Emily Temple on

This week marks the release of Aleksandar Hemon’s excellent book of personal essays, The Book of My Lives, which we loved, and which we’re convinced deserves a place in the literary canon. To that end, we were inspired to put together our list of the greatest essay collections of all time, from the classic to the contemporary, from the personal to the critical. In making our choices, we’ve steered away from posthumous omnibuses and multi-author compilations, and given what might be undue weight to our favorite writers (as one does). Click through to see our nominations for the 25 greatest essay collections of all… Read More

Books

10 of the Most Twisted Short Stories About Love

By Emily Temple on

It’s almost Valentine’s Day, which has us thinking about affairs of the heart — but not in the Hallmark card way, of course. Yesterday saw the release of Ludmilla Petrushevskaya’s There Once Lived a Girl Who Seduced Her Sister’s Husband, and He Hanged Himself: Love Stories (an even better title than her last translated collection, There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor’s Baby: Scary Fairy Tales), and needless to say, the book is full of off-kilter, lurid, even violent attempts at connection. To celebrate the book’s release (and stock you up on reading in advance of Valentine’s Day), we’ve put together a list of ten of our favorite thoroughly messed up short stories about love. But of course, the literary world abounds with these, so read through and add your own twisted favorites in the comments. … Read More

Books

10 Famous Authors on the Importance of Keeping a Journal

By Emily Temple on

Many famous writers have kept journals or diaries — for many, it is a creative necessity, for others, a place for exploration, and for some an art form in and of itself. This week, Brain Pickings treated us to a few passages on the art of keeping a diary from Virginia Woolf’s A Writer’s Diary, and we were inspired to see what other authors had to say on the topic (we were also inspired to resume our old diaries, but never mind). After the jump, read ten famous writers on the importance of keeping a journal (or, in some cases, the lack thereof), and let us know whether you keep your own notebook, journal or diary in the comments. … Read More

Pop Culture

Celebrities Reading '50 Shades of Grey' Aloud, Ranked From Worst to Best

By Emily Temple on

By now, it seems like everyone in the world has read 50 Shades of Grey (except the people you actually know). Including celebrities, who particularly can’t seem to get enough of reading the thing out loud. We get it — it’s hilarious and oh so scandalous in a completely safe way. But some celebs do a better job than others, and though “better” here is obviously relative and subjective, we’d say that the quality usually comes down to the commitment. After the jump, watch (if you can bear it) ten videos of celebrities reading from 50 Shades of Grey, ranked from worst to best. Do you agree with our rankings? Want someone else on the list? Let us know in the comments. … Read More

Film

The Best and Worst of Sundance 2013

By Jason Bailey on

This time last year, the out-of-nowhere indie Beasts of the Southern Wild emerged at the Sundance Film Festival, knocked out everyone who saw it, and embarked on a thrilling year-long ride to become a critical fave, indie smash, and multiple Oscar nominee. Of course, when you have a big hit, everyone’s looking for a sequel — and most of the press out of Park City has been eager to buzzkill, assuring us that no, there’s not another Beasts in this year’s bunch. But that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t an incredible… Read More

Film

Sundance 2013: ‘C.O.G.’ Reminded David Sedaris of “How Pretentious and Horrible I Was”

By Jason Bailey on

PARK CITY, UTAH: Before C.O.G., the new comedy/drama from Kyle Patrick Alvarez that premiered last night at the Sundance Film Festival, David Sedaris had never allowed his work to be adapted into a feature film. There were plenty of offers, which Sedaris usually turned down to protect his family. But Alvarez had two feathers in his cap: the story he wanted to adapt (from Sedaris’s essay collection Naked) didn’t include the family, and Sedaris “just loved” Alvarez’s first movie, Easier with Practice. Once he gave the project the go-ahead, however, Sedaris stayed out of the way — so much so that he saw the film for the first time at Sunday night’s Sundance premiere. … Read More

Film

10 Sundance 2013 Movies We Can’t Wait to See

By Jason Bailey on

Hold on to your hats, dear readers: the 29th annual Sundance Film Festival kicks off today in Park City, Utah. Your humble film editor is on the ground, in snow boots and several layers of sensible sweaters, with a film-going schedule that could alternately be described as “ambitious” or “insane.” Here are the ten movies that top our “must-see”… Read More