Last week saw the publication in English of France’s resident literary bad boy Michel Houellebecq’s newest novel, The Map and the Territory, heralded by some as his magnum opus. The resurgence of the literary great got us to thinking about other literary bad boys who rocked the boat and won notoriety for it — most of them buoyed by endless talent, or just star power. After all, everyone loves to hate (or in some cases, loves to love) the literary rebels and the scandalous men of letters. Click through to check out our list of legendary literary bad boys — and if we’ve forgotten your favorite enfant terrible, be sure to let us know in the comments.
Read More »
[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 June 19, 2011.] Sigh. Authors just don’t insult each other like they used to. Sure, Martin Amis raised some eyebrows when he claimed he would need brain damage to write children’s books, and recent Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Egan made waves when she disparaged the work that someone had plagiarized, but those kinds of accidental, lukewarm zingers are nothing when compared to the sick burns of yore. It stands to reason, of course, that writers would be able to come up with some of the best insults around, given their natural affinity for a certain turn of phrase and all. And it also makes sense that the people they would choose to unleash their verbal battle-axes upon would be each other, since watching someone doing the same thing you’re doing — only badly — is one of the most frustrating feelings we know. So we forgive our dear authors for their spite. Plus, their insults are just so fun to read. Click through for our countdown of the thirty harshest author-on-author burns in history, and let us know if we’ve missed any of your favorites in the comments!
Read More »
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 »
We were a little bit late in reading Jorian Polis Schutz’s analysis of manly manes in the last issue of Cabinet, titled “Barbers and Barbarians,” but we’re glad we did. Schultz writes, “The savage impulse must withstand the perennial opposition of forces for shortness — for there is always a national mythology of hair to grow out of and into.” This got us thinking about great writers’ hairstyles through time, from ancient Greek poets to the conceited French intellectuals of today. If hair doth make the man, then the following writers stand against the grain in these times, acting as iconoclastic reminders that one can still be manly (perhaps even more so) with an irrepressible hairdo. So let your hair down and enjoy the following modern scribes’ tangled tresses.
Read More »
Ever wondered how your favorite artist gets their work done? No, we mean, exactly how. As in, if we use the same pen Hemingway used, and the same kind of paper, and at the same time of day, maybe we’ll… nevermind. Regardless of pen type, there is something fascinating about the artist’s desk, and like anything else, everyone will draw their own far-reaching conclusions. In particular, it seems like everyone has their own opinion about what the state of someone’s workspace “means,” and we guess it has more to do with what the adage-makers own desks looked like than anything else. Whether a cluttered desk means a cluttered mind, or whether a cluttered desk just means a cluttered desk, or whether a messy desk is a sign of genius, we don’t know. But be their desks cluttered or clean, these creative people are definitely on this side of brilliant. Indulge in some harmless voyeurism and sneak a peek at the desks and workspaces of writers, artists, and thinkers. Then, it’s time to redecorate.
Read More »
According to acclaimed British novelist Martin Amis, he would only ever write a children’s book if he suffered brain damage. Okay. Well, the actual quote, delivered to Sebastian Faulks on the BBC, was “If I had a serious brain injury I might well write a children’s book, but otherwise the idea of being conscious of who you’re directing the story to in anathema to me, because, in my view, fiction is freedom and any restraints on that are intolerable… I would never write about someone that forced me to write at a lower register than what I can write.” Oh, come on, Martin Amis.
Read More »
Today at Flavorpill, we saw the first official image from the Cartoon Network’s Thundercats reboot, which is set to debut later this year. We were intrigued by a rumor that Christian Bale is up for the part of Roland in Ron Howard’s adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower. We almost hurled on discovering that Lady Gaga’s fragrance will be inspired by the smell of blood and semen. We found it telling that for most Americans, the most memorable part of last night’s State of the Union address was President Obama’s salmon joke. We wondered how long we’ll have to wait to have a Martin Amis sighting in Brooklyn. We watched Ron English kill Kenny. We listened to the Portland Cello Project perform an instrumental cover of Kanye West’s “All of the Lights.” And finally, we were excited to hear that Nabakov’s theory about the evolution of the Polyommatus blues — long dismissed by scientists — was actually right!
Although we’re no longer bound to become blacksmiths or bakers based on our parents’ jobs, there are some professional skills that persist from one generation to the next. We’ve recently seen the power of artistic genetics with the release of Sophie Crumb’s first book (edited by her father Robert, no less), but it seems that literary DNA is particularly potent. With the holiday season now upon us — and with it, inevitable reunions with close family and distant relatives alike — here’s a toast to ten families for whom writing is part of the inherited legacy.
Read More »
This year’s 13-author strong “Man Booker Dozen” longlist was just announced, and while it doesn’t include many new names (in fact, Peter Carey has already won the Booker — twice) and there were a few notable snubs (Martin Amis, Ian McEwan), it does include several books that are recent Flavorpill favorites — most notably David Mitchell’s The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet and Emma Donoghue’s Room. Click through to view the final list, and leave comment if you’ve got a hunch on who will win the £50,000 literary prize.
Read More »
Martin Amis is no stranger to controversy. The 60-year-old British author and so-called “public intellectual” is perhaps better known in British newspapers for pissing people off than for publishing. Thankfully his must recent book The Pregnant Widow
is sexy-funny enough to launch him back into the headlines for the right reasons — but lest we get too comfortable focusing on the literature, let’s take a look back at Amis’s most divisive moments.
Read More »
