1. If you blinked during last night’s Super Bowl half-time show, then you might have missed MIA flipping off the crowd while performing “Gimme All Your Luvin” with Madonna and Nicki Minaj, but now it’s all that anyone is talking about. The official apology from NBC: “Our system was late to obscure the inappropriate gesture… Read More
Margaret Atwood
10 Great Science Fiction Books for Girls
Madeleine L’Engle’s beloved and much-lauded A Wrinkle in Time turns 50 this year. As The New York Times points out, it’s one of the few science fiction books to have drawn a large female fan base. At the time of its publication, science fiction was not often market to girls, and the genre is still often considered to be mostly the purview of men. Indeed, according to the article, women continue to read science fiction much more rarely than men: “Half of 18- to 24-year-old men say that science fiction is their favorite type of book, compared with only one-fourth of young women… Thirty-two percent of adult male book buyers are science-fiction fans compared with only 12 percent of women.” However, lots of girls and women love science fiction, and we are confident that many more could, if only they gave it a chance. To help with the gender imbalance in this delightful, political, strange genre of speculative fiction, we’ve put together a list of 10 great science fiction books for girls and women — though we think anyone would enjoy them. Click through to check out our picks, and let us know if we’ve missed any of your own favorites in the comments! … Read More
10 Novels That Will Disturb Even the Coldest of Hearts
[Editor's note: While your Flavorwire editors take a much-needed holiday break, we're revisiting some of our most popular features of the year. This post was originally published May 18, 2011.] Jezebel-writer Anna North’s debut novel, America Pacifica, is out today. The story centers around an impoverished teenage girl who is struggling to survive on an increasingly toxic island in the Pacific Ocean after a future Ice Age sets in and freezes the mainland. Though the writing can be a little clunky — especially with respect to class issues — North provides good lens into the many ways an aggrieved soul can turn against the world, and how difficult it is to get back our dignity once we’ve lost it. With this in mind, we decided to run a post on books that expose the darker side of humanity — a roundup of the most disturbing novels and short stories through time, if you will. … Read More
See Margaret Atwood’s Own Illustrations From ‘In Other Worlds’
Kindle-owners, rejoice. We recently discovered that the e-book version (and only the e-book version, mind you) of Margaret Atwood’s newly released collection of short fiction and essays, In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination, will also feature a handful of Atwood’s personal illustrations, from what appear to be varying points in her life. As might be expected, the acclaimed author’s drawings display the same amount of inventiveness and whimsy as much of her prose, if admittedly a little less raw talent. Click through to see a few of Atwood’s hand-drawn illustrations from the e-book version of In Other Worlds, and let us know if they make you want to go for the electronic fare, or if you still prefer paper. … Read More
How to Read Like Some of Your Favorite Writers
The Atlantic Wire just posted the most recent installment of their always fascinating Media Diet feature, and this week’s subject is none other than self-proclaimed “reading junkie” Margaret Atwood. The Canadian literary diva reveals that “she [doesn't] like news too early in the day,” reads before bed even though it has been known to give her nightmares, and subscribes to too many magazines — most of them literary. While we find these details fascinating, we’re always more interested in combing through the column to find out what books our favorite writers are reading. Click through to find out what’s currently on Atwood’s bedside table, as well as some other reading suggestions culled from recent contributors in the archive. … Read More
Literary Divas We Can’t Help But Love
There are divas and there are their lesser-known male counterparts, divos; the thing that unites them is their willingness to make demands and to do whatever it takes to stay in the spotlight. You cannot wrestle their trophies away from them; they will never give you the opportunity. A diva is a prima donna; the ego is there for all to see. There’s a vulnerability to that which can be touching, but most of the time you’ll never see it because the show they put on often obscures any real sense of themselves; they create and become spectacles — especially in the book world. … Read More
Creative Book Tours by Adventurous Authors
Here’s a dirty little secret: as much as we love books, and as much as we’re fascinated by the people that wrote them, sometimes author readings are really boring. Especially if you’ve already read the book. Especially if the author isn’t a good reader. Especially if you can’t really see and they won’t take questions and you have to stand the whole time. Well, it seems that we’re not alone in our shameful feelings, because in recent years, authors have been embarking on more creative book tours in an attempt to spice up their events and get their ideas out there. Inspired by Emma Straub’s recent book tour news, which we can’t wait for and you can read about below, we thought we’d catalog a few of our favorites. Click through to see some tales of great book tours, and let us know about your own favorites in the comments. … Read More
A Consensus Cloud of Books Everyone Should Read
Information is Beautiful’s David McCandless has compiled the results of more than 15 esteemed book polls, surveys, and lists in order to create a “consensus cloud” of the most frequently chosen titles across the board. The books contained in the cloud range from the products of Pulitzer Prize-winning authors to Oprah’s Bookclub picks, providing… Read More
How to Rewrite a Story Without Ruining the Original
Although Hollywood has made a business out of converting classic stories into vacuous, high-def shells of their former incarnations, the literary world has been somewhat better about preserving and improving — even while in the act of pillaging. As we’ve seen in everything from Ulysses to Frankenstein to East of Eden, a well-imagined reworking can bring new meaning and relevance to an older, equally beloved story. Here’s a look at five recent literary makeovers that do justice to the original work. … Read More
10 Contemporary Books That Challenged White, Male Literary Dominance
Last week, we published a list of 10 essential books of the past 25 years. It was one of our most popular posts of all time, as well as one of our most contentious, racking up over 100 comments. Much of the argument has focused on the list’s lack of diversity: of the 10 books, eight were written by white men.
Since best-of lists can’t help but be subjective and flawed, and because there have been so many game-changing books by women and people of color in the past 25 years, we’ve put together an alternate top 10 list. Don’t think of it as an affirmative action move or a consolation prize, but rather as proof that you could make an equally strong list of the past few decades’ greatest literary achievements without including a single American- or British-born white guy. The highbrow novels, page-turning bestsellers, and one particularly inspired graphic novel after the jump all challenged the received wisdom that literature is or should be dominated by white dudes. … Read More
Recent Features
- 3h
-
4h
'The Simpsons'' Most Memorable Interactions With the Real World
- 4h
- 4h
- 4h
- 5h
- 6h
- 7h
-
7h
Flavorwire Exclusive: Manuel Gonzales on His Favorite Short Story
-
8h
The Gay Bechdel Test: Why Hollywood Needs to Expand Its Representation of LGBT Characters
Popular Posts
- 9h
- 1d
- 1d
- 1d
- 3d
The 50 Albums Everyone Needs to Own, 1963-2013
Incredible Reading Rooms Around the World
A Brief Survey of Naughty Public Art
The Best and Worst of Last Night’s ‘SNL’ with Ben Affleck
43 Great Tina Fey Quotes for Her 43rd Birthday
