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!
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Recently, it was drawn to our attention that there exists an online bookstore whose wares are meant for dudes and dudes alone. Yes, it’s The Man Cave. As the site suggests, “guys do read – they like it, in fact.” Well, we knew that. What we did not know was that the kind of books guys like to read are things like manuals treat them like children (How Do You Light a Fart?) or scream Urban Outfitters bargain table (Sweet ’Stache: 50 Badass Mustaches and the Faces Who Sport Them) or are basically just pictures of scantily clad ladies (100 Sexiest Women in Comics) — actually, maybe we knew that last one. Our disappointment at the Man Cave’s offerings led us to create a pop-up bookstore (of sorts) of our own, a list of books that will ensure your own Man Cave shelves are covered in the very manliest of literature. After all, in our minds, there’s nothing more manly than a guy who reads good books. Maybe while sporting a thick moustache, but that’s not strictly necessary. Obviously there are hundreds of books that could fit into this category, so after you peruse our list, be sure to let us know which other manly reads you would have chosen in the comments.
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For an avid reader, the holidays can sometimes be a little confusing. What to do when faced with gifting a friend or family member who say, doesn’t read quite as much as you do? You’d like to give them a book, but you want to make sure you pick one that they’re sure to at least crack open — not like last year, when you lovingly handed over a shiny new copy of Infinite Jest to a totally blank look. Never fear, literature geeks, we have a fool-proof list of book-shaped objects that everyone on your non-literary list will love. Click through to check out or list of amazing books to give to the nonreaders in your life (who yes, are still worthy of love), and let us know which other books you’d gift in the comments. Read More »
Considered one of the greatest American novels ever written, Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick was first published 160 years ago today. Artist Bill Pettit has been collecting various editions of the famous novel for about 30 years and boasts nearly 200 volumes in his personal collection. His obsession with the tale about a vengeful captain chasing an enigmatic white whale started in the 1980s. Pettit explained why he’s always been so drawn to the story during a recent interview. “It’s a capture of an entire industry that no longer exists. There’s description of places that people haven’t seen and have never been and places that have been destroyed by civilization,” he shared. “And then there are places that people can go to, like Nantucket and New Bedford, and you can see the places that Melville referenced and get that kind of broad worldwide focus. There are not a lot of novels where that happens.” Browsing Pettit’s collection of covers is a fascinating flip through 100 years of bookmaking. We’ve highlighted some of our favorite Moby-Dick covers past the break. Read More »
We all know truth is stranger than fiction, and some things (and people) are just too good to have been made up. We’ve already shown you quirky cartoon characters based on real people, and though we imagine there are many more life-to-literature adaptations than life-to-cartoon, we’ve decided to continue the trend and pick some of our favorite famous literary characters inspired by real-life people. For the most part, we’ve skipped the autobiographical inspirations, mostly because there are too many too count, though many writers would probably tell you there’s a little bit of themselves in every character they write, so in some ways that distinction is a losing battle. Click through to read out list of ten famous literary characters and their real-life counterparts, and let us know your own picks for your favorite truth-inspired heroes and heroines in the comments! Read More »
If you’ve ever wondered what your favorite literary characters might be listening to while they save the world/contemplate existence/get into trouble, or hallucinated a soundtrack to go along with your favorite novels, well, us too. But wonder no more! Here, we sneak a look at the hypothetical iPods of some of literature’s most interesting characters. What would be on the personal playlists of Holden Caulfield or Elizabeth Bennett, Huck Finn or Harry Potter, Tintin or Humbert Humbert? Something revealing, we bet. Or at least something danceable. Read on for a cozy reading soundtrack, character study, or yet another way to emulate your favorite literary hero. This week: The fearsome great white himself, Moby Dick.
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If you’ve ever wondered what your favorite literary characters might be listening to while they save the world/contemplate existence/get into trouble, or hallucinated a soundtrack to go along with your favorite novels, well, us too. But wonder no more! Here, we sneak a look at the hypothetical iPods of some of literature’s most interesting characters. What would be on the personal playlists of Holden Caulfield or Elizabeth Bennett, Huck Finn or Harry Potter, Tintin or Humbert Humbert? Something revealing, we bet. Or at least something danceable. Read on for a cozy reading soundtrack, character study, or yet another way to emulate your favorite literary hero. This week: the tyrannical sea captain of all our dreams, Captain Ahab.
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The world of celebrity baby-naming is an odd and occasionally alarming one. But we have to say, the latest trend is one we can get down with: Both Neil Patrick Harris and the Beckhams named their baby daughters Harper, after the author of To Kill a Mockingbird. And it got us thinking about other literature-inspired names that might be sweeping the ranks soon. Maybe Eudora will make a comeback in homage to Miss Welty? Perhaps Huck will sweep the naming registers? After all, the current number one names — Isabella and Jacob — have the Twilight series to thank. Below, our abridged list of literary baby names and what they mean.
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Earlier this week, we read about plans to turn Moat Brae, the Georgian townhouse in Scotland that inspired JM Barrie’s Peter Pan into a center for children’s literature, which we think sounds like a wonderful idea. It also doesn’t hurt that Absolutely Fabulous actress Joanna Lumley is the primary advocate and fundraiser behind the project. But more importantly, the project got us thinking about all the real-life places that have inspired some of our favorite works of literature. We’re not talking big cities like New York and LA and their numerous pleasures, which figure in thousands of books, but houses and moors, caves and farmlands hidden away in authors’ hometowns or childhood vacation spots. Of course, some of the mythology of inspiration is always guesswork, but we can’t deny that we feel a little literary tingle when we look at these places. Click through to see our list of ten real life places that inspired literary classics, and let us know any we’ve missed in the comments!
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Today at Flavorpill, we transported back in time thanks to a few of the titles on BuzzFeed’s list of 35 VHS tapes that your parents wouldn’t let you rent when you were a kid. We watched alternative opening credits for some of our favorite TV shows. We felt sorry for Bjork’s TV — to be taken apart under such scrutiny! We surprised by some of the names in Mental Floss’s roundup of five artists reportedly held at gunpoint by Phil Spector. We couldn’t wait to print out this Ron Swanson paper doll and dress it up in outfits. We imagined that if MTV was having a 30th birthday party, then Justin Vernon would not be getting an invite. We hoped to spot iPad head girl walking the streets of New York City. We read some competing accounts of who invented the high five. We wished Herman Melville a happy birthday. And finally, we felt like Lars Von Trier’s latest project — which is about “the erotic life of a woman from the age of zero to the age of 50″ — has to be some kind of self parody. Right?
