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Edgar Allan Poe

Books

The Artist and the Critic: 8 Famous Author/Editor Relationships

By Emily Temple on

This week, we were totally psyched to hear that Colin Firth and Michael Fassbender will be playing Thomas Wolfe and his legendary editor Max Perkins in a film adaption of A. Scott Berg’s National Book Award–winning account of their relationship, Max Perkins: Editor of Genius. And not just for all the Firth/Fassbender it means we’ll be getting. Inspired by this national nod towards an important literary relationship, we’ve rounded up a few other famous author/editor relationships to inspire both the critics and the scribblers among you. Read about them after the jump, and if we’ve missed your favorite, tell us the story in the comments. … Read More

Books

The Literary Canon as Graphic Novel

By Emily Temple on

Earlier in the year, we shared some of our favorite selections from the first volume of one of the coolest publishing projects we’ve heard about in a long time — The Graphic Canon, wherein almost 200 classic works of literature will be re-interpreted and published in graphic form by 130-odd visual artists over 1,344 pages in three volumes. Whew. The second installment, The Graphic Canon, Vol. 2: From “Kubla Khan” to the Brontë Sisters to The Picture of Dorian Gray, edited by Russ Kick, hits shelves next week, but we’re lucky enough to have a little preview to whet your appetite. Click through to check out a few standouts from the second volume of this amazing series, and then be sure to pick up a copy of the book for much more. … Read More

Books

10 of the Creepiest Ghosts in Literature

By Emily Temple on

We know it’s not October yet, but that doesn’t mean we can’t indulge in a few extra scary stories as the nights get longer and the leaves start to change. This week saw the release of The Big Book of Ghost Stories, an anthology of spooky tales starring ghouls of all descriptions, edited by Otto Penzler. Though we haven’t worked our way through it yet, we were inspired to think about the fictional ghosts who have creeped us out the most thoroughly over the years — from those inhabiting classic horror stories to those sneaking into more literary fiction. Click through to read about our picks for the creepiest ghosts in literature — and since everyone has their own specific demons to face, let us know which you’d have chosen in the comments. … Read More

Books

19th Century Writers Who Are Even More Relevant Today

By Emily Temple on

Mary Shelley has some serious staying power. The author was born a whopping 215 years ago today, and her work is more relevant now than ever. Not only is Frankenstein, which Shelley began writing when she was eighteen years old, still ubiquitous in classrooms, but the cultural phenomenon of the cobbled-together monster has and continues to inspire and inform artists of every stripe (Tim Burton’s rebooted Frankenweenie is only the most recent example, we think you’ve probably heard of a few more). To celebrate the life and legacy of this fantastic author, we’ve but together a list of a few 19th century writers who are continually — and sometimes exponentially — culturally relevant in our time. Though some of these authors did garner some amount of acclaim during their own lifetimes, we’d venture that they’re all much more famous and more important to the culture at large today. Click through to check out our list, and as always, add any writers you think we’ve missed in the comments. … Read More

Books

Pithy Literary Posters Perfect for Writers’ Salons

By Emily Temple on

Still tickled by Capote’s epic and oft-quoted insult to Kerouac’s writing? Agree with William Faulkner that “civilization begins with distillation”? Now you can have them in poster form, accompanied by lovely minimalist illustrations by New York-based artist Evan Robertson. Robertson, whose poster series we discovered over at Jacket Copy, describes his work as “inspired by my love of literature, word play and straight-shooting language,” and indeed, the prints are filled with visual puns and insider nudges that will have the word nerds among you punning with delight. Plus, it never hurts to add a little extra literary wisdom to your décor. Click through to browse ten of our favorites from Robertson’s collection, and then if you must have one for your study, salon, or writers’ retreat, head over to his Etsy shop to make one of them your very own. … Read More

Books

10 Wonderful Short Films Based on Famous Short Stories

By Emily Temple on

Here at Flavorpill, we’re total suckers for short stories — in any form. The idea of short stories being used as source material for films — even feature films — is nothing new (hello, Brokeback Mountain), but this week, PWxyz pointed us towards a gorgeous short film we had never seen before, based on one of our favorite short stories, Franz Kafka’s “A Country Doctor.” Inspired, we dug up a few more wonderful short films based on short stories, both professional and amateur, which could serve either to accent your understanding of a story, or, you know, let you off easy. After all, there’s nothing lower-effort than kicking back and watching videos online. Even if they’re literary. Click through to check out the films, and let us know which short story you’d love to see in short film form in the comments. … Read More

Art

Darkly Elegant Illustrations of Edgar Allan Poe’s Famous Works

By Alison Nastasi on

Trained in the art of stained glass, early 20th century Irish artist Harry Clarke eventually found himself illustrating books. One of his most accomplished commissions was a 1908 publication called Tales of Mystery and Imagination, a collection of Edgar Allan Poe’s macabre, gothic tales. Clarke’s stunning works for the book made it a popular reprinted title, and lit fiend haunt 50 Watts was kind enough to share one such copy.

The website posted images from a 1923 print — which we first took notice of on Twitter — containing dozens of richly detailed, black and white plates. Clarke’s sharply intense figures and incredible line work recalls the work of Aubrey Beardsley, but Clarke’s images feel more labyrinthine. The artist became one of the most well-known figures in the Arts and Crafts movement, but we’re deeply drawn to the sinister elegance of his Poe illustrations — some of which we’ve featured past the break. Click through for a closer look. … Read More

Web

What's On at Flavorpill: The Links That Made the Rounds In Our Office

By Alison Nastasi on

Today at Flavorpill, we met a 39-pound cat. We believed in our “smellves.” We checked off a few of the 29 trends to try before we die. We said happy birthday to Shakespeare. We were surprised there were only 25 terrible TV shows on FOX over… Read More

Books

Reality TV Shows About Famous Authors We'd Love to See

By Kim Parker on

Are you more interested in the Brontës than the Kardashians? Does your heart embrace only one Millionaire Matchmaker — Becky Sharp? (Okay, two. Undine Spragg, for name alone.) We lit geeks at Flavorwire see the canned drama of the Basketball Wives, and pooh-pooh. We’d rather tune out, turn off, and reminisce about Faulkner’s drunken Pulitzer Prize speech, or the time Hemingway and Wallace Stevens got into a fistfight. Now, there’s drama we want to DVR! After all, why do reality TV stars enthrall the American public? Our guess is their affluence, good looks, and constant conflict. Well, you know what we say to that? Edith Wharton, Lord Byron, F. Scott Fitzgerald. Literary history roils with glamor, wealth, and — above all — enormous egos. It’s the perfect stuff of entertainment (and art, apparently). So which writers would be on your dream TiVo? Check out our own fantasy list after the jump! … Read More

Books

10 Cult Literary Traditions for Truly Die-Hard Fans

By Emily Temple on

Sometimes you love a book — or an author’s body of works — so much that you need an outlet that allows you to express that love. Sure, book club might help a little, but if you’re a truly die-hard fan, you might find that you need a little more tradition (or maybe full-on period costumes) to really inspire you. After all, nothing makes literature come to life like actually incorporating it into the modern-day world, whether by holding nonstop readings, visiting grave sites, or carrying around special tokens of appreciation and winking at other insiders. So if you’ve wondering how best to salute your favorite authors and novels, click through to read up on a few literary traditions ripe for the joining, and let us know if we’ve missed any of your favorites in the comments! … Read More