Around this time last year, we gave you a list of a few of our all-time favorite short stories that were available to read online for free. By now, we expect that you’ve read them all, so we thought it was high time to collect a few more. After the jump, ten more short stories that you can read for free — on your phone on the train, while pretending to work, printed out with a cup of tea on the couch — all of them guaranteed to be great (and a few that were suggested by readers on our first go-around). But of course, the Internet abounds with these, so if you’ve a generous spirit, you could even add to our list in the comments. Happy reading. … Read More
Jorge Luis Borges
The Fascinating Self-Portraits of 20 Famous Authors
They say writing is a form of self-expression — but it’s not the only one. And if we had to guess, we’d bet that many of our favorite authors have a little bit more going on in their heads than the average person, so it makes sense to us that their creativity might spill out into other mediums. To that end, we’ve curated a small selection of wonderful visual self-portraits by famous authors — from scribbles to full-on oil paintings, from cheeky one-offs to serious painterly studies. Did we miss your favorite? Let us know in the comments. … Read More
The Best Fictional Libraries in Pop Culture
Here at Flavorpill, we’re always on the lookout for a great library — even if that library happens to be fictional. So we’ve sifted through literature, film, and television to bring you ten of the best libraries ever… Read More
A Required Reading List For the End of the World
Well, we’ve made it folks: it’s the end of the world. Or, er, maybe it will be, sometime today. In these end times, we’ve been thinking about our dear friend P.J. O’Rourke, who once quipped a quip that’s always nagging at the back of our minds: “always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.” Well, readers, the day has come. Now, whether anyone else will be around to see your cool death-read is a separate question, but if you need a little guidance as to what to keep on your person for posterity, we’re here for you. After the jump, a few books we think would send you off with a bang — whether today or years from now. Get on it. … Read More
20 Famous Authors’ Adorable School Photos
It’s back to school season, which means new books, new classes and yes, new photos, yearbook and otherwise. But don’t worry — your favorite authors had to go through it too. To celebrate the new season of scholarship, we’ve collected a few pictures of some of our favorite authors’ school photos, ranging from proud snapshots of the first day of kindergarten to writers-to-be goofing off behind a desk to posed high school graduation photos. Check out our collection, find out which author was voted class clown, and ruminate on what your own education might lead to after the… Read More
10 of the Most Precocious Authors in Literary History
The 150th anniversary of Edith Wharton’s birth has brought all sorts of fun biographical information to our attention. For example, we recently learned about her favorite childhood game “Making Up,” a strange combination of chanting, pacing, and inventing stories. This vile behavior of course concerned Edith’s blue-blood parents, but as we all know, it was only a precursor to the genius that was to come. Which got us thinking: what were other famously precocious authors doing as kids? (Hint: Stephen King was the coolest.) Click through to see what we found and be sure to add those we missed! … Read More
An Essential Postmodern Reading List
Yesterday, Dalkey Archive released a new edition of William Gaddis’ postmodern masterpiece, The Recognitions, the book that Jonathan Franzen called “the ur-text of postwar fiction.” The new edition reminded us of our undying love for postmodern literature — the chaotically playful, the metafictional, and the experimental alike — and inspired us to check out a few books missing from our collection, so we’ve put together an essential postmodern reading list for devotees both old and new. Click through to check out some of our favorite works of postmodern lit — and since of course this is only a starter list, and there are many important postmodern works not listed here (we don’t have unlimited reading time, you know), be sure to let us know if we’ve missed any of your favorites in the comments. … Read More
Critically Acclaimed Authors Who Never Win Prizes
This week marks the release of Anita Desai’s newest book, The Artist of Disappearance, a set of three beautiful novellas revolving around the shifting tides of Indian culture in past and present. We love Desai’s work, and we know critics love her too — but we noticed that, somehow, she is continually overlooked when it comes to major prizes. Always the bridesmaid and never the bride, as it were, she has been shortlisted three times for the Booker Prize without yet snapping up a win. Perplexed, we decided to take a look at other authors who have been robbed of prizes that we (and often, hordes of fans) think should be rightfully theirs. Click through to read our list of critically acclaimed authors who never win prizes — or never win that one particular prize — and let us know who else you think has been totally shafted in the comments. … Read More
Our Favorite Tweets by Dead Authors
Yesterday, we read on NPR about tweets from deceased writers and it got us thinking about the various authors and poets who have been resurrected in order to dole out advice, complaints, and fleeting thoughts in 140 characters or less. What could Melville tell us about whaling? (Too much, we think.) What’s happening with Flannery O’Connor’s peacock? And what has Sylvia Plath been dreaming about?
Some of these accounts are from fans, and others are by writers either as publicity stunts for their upcoming books or as a release from the work they’ve been doing all day. Inhabiting the voice of an esteemed writer is a challenge, and so it takes a certain amount of boldness to accept the task at hand. We think the accounts below are worth checking out, either for a laugh or for some desperately needed advice during your midday downtime at work. So read on, dear readers, and let us know who you’ve been following on Twitter, or who you would like to, in the comments section below. … Read More
The Notebook: Saramago’s Sudden Clarity
José Saramago has the ability to simultaneously seduce and piss off his audience more than perhaps any other living writer. From absurdist premises to an ascetic approach to punctuation, his fiction breeds a kind of intellectual isolation that becomes addictive with each turned page. His novels, for which he received the Nobel Prize in 1998, consist of complex allegories, fantastical scenarios, rewritten histories, and the occasional inside literary joke, each of which is at once stunningly executed and maddeningly disorienting. It comes as a welcome shift, then, that Saramago’s most recent release, The Notebook, is a work of nonfiction, an overview of contemporary society that offers clarity and sobering directness without sacrificing any of the author’s love/hate appeal. … Read More
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