Patrick Kingsley recently wrote in The Guardian about “poisonous literary feuds” and the peacemakers who could broker a truce. We ran a post on the subject last year, but thought we would do an international list of troublemakers this time around. We’d also like to honor the man who racked up the most hours feuding with his literary colleagues: Norman Mailer. Writers today generally aren’t as venomous toward each other (although maybe Colson Whitehead would disagree after his salivary encounter with Richard Ford). We have to agree with Mailer’s proclamation on The Dick Cavett Show: “I’m going to be the champ until one of you knocks me off.”
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Today at Flavorpill, we experienced The Final Four Of Everything. We were as disgusted as the A.V. Club at the prospect of an American Gladiators movie. We grabbed the new Animal Collective song, “Bleed,” and then checked out Rihanna’s comeback track, “Silly Boy.” (No, we weren’t juxtaposing these for irony, but now that you mention it…) We were surprised to learn that Nobel laureate Derek Walcott was stopped from joining Oxford’s faculty by an anonymous letter campaign. (He was accused of sexually harassing a Harvard student in the ’80s. But seriously, who knew that those work?) We felt bad for the gay porn mags. We downloaded this podcast where Tobias Wolff reads a Denis Johnson story. We enjoyed this behind-the-scenes interview about the making of “Motherlover.” It just reaffirms our Patricia Clarkson love. And finally, we decided this 19th century pregnancy doll might be the best birth control we’ve ever seen. Yikes.
All the politicians are writing books: After leaving D.C. GEORGE BUSH will watch the world undo his damage and he will write a book. But so, it seems, will LAURA. She is being highly secretive about her plans, but she’s meeting with publishing execs to discuss a seven-figure memoir. Will their stories match? Will they let each other read the drafts? Will Laura’s book inevitably outsell W’s? And even though she didn’t make it to the White House, SARAH PALIN is also eyeing a book deal. Maybe she’ll reveal details about her kids’ names. [Reuters]
And in the meantime Obama reads some poems: While GEORGE BUSH nominates cowboys for THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT OF THE ARTS, we’re giddy that BARACK OBAMA reads poetry. Or at least carries it around. He was spotted last week carrying a volume of Nobel winner DEREK WALCOTT’s collected works. Maybe he needed a break from reading comics. [UPI]
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