Most fans of literature and free speech will be well aware that censorship (or at least attempted censorship) is alive and well in the United States. Recently, a parent objected to the un-expurgated version of Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl, calling her descriptions of her budding sexuality “pornographic.” This person is rather behind the times — those passages were originally cut because of the chance that they might offend, but reinstated later on. But Frank isn’t the only author whose raciest passages were cut before publication. Feast your mind on the following selection of books that were censored or expurgated from their original, more scandalous formats. … Read More
Oscar Wilde
“Angles Are Attitudes”: Men’s Style Tips From Pop Culture’s Greatest Fashion Icons
Brooks Brothers has unveiled its new limited-edition men’s clothing line, created in collaboration with The Great Gatsby costume designer Catherine Martin. Gatsby isn’t the first pop culture project to reinvigorate interest in the distinctive and discerning man of the Roaring Twenties. The gentlemen of Boardwalk Empire and Downton Abbey have recently donned wingtip shoes, white waistcoats, and straw boaters. With the “dreamlike world of pristine green laws and lavish parties” in mind, we gathered great fashion tips from ten cultural icons to learn the secrets of sharp-dressed… Read More
Required Reading: Schmidt
“I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten,” Ralph Waldo Emerson famously quipped, “even so, they have made me.” In this bi-weekly series, Flavorwire plays professor to some of our favorite pop culture characters, assigning reading lists tailored to their temperaments or — in some cases — designed to make them into slightly better people. After all, even fictional characters can have their lives changed by books. Or so we imagine. This week, we recommend a reading list for New Girl‘s Schmidt, to minimize the money put into the douchebag jar. … Read More
10 Books to Read While You’re Waiting for ‘The Great Gatsby’ to Come Out
About a month from now, Baz Luhrmann’s much-anticipated film adaptation of The Great Gatsby will hit theaters, and try as we might to maintain a healthy amount of “they’re going to ruin it” skepticism, we have to admit that we’re pretty excited. So excited that we’ve already re-read the book, and now we’re casting about for similarly jazzy, indulgent, socially critical reads to hold us over until we can watch it unfold as a spectacle in theaters. If you’re facing the same problem, we’ve got you covered — after the jump, check out the books (aside from the obvious one, of course) that we’re reading in anticipation of Gatsby on the big screen, and if we’ve missed your favorite, be sure to add it to our list in the comments. … Read More
20 Irish Writers on Being Irish
We’d like to interrupt your regularly scheduled St. Patrick’s Day celebrations with a few words of wisdom. Put down that green beer — you never really liked it anyway — and cozy up with these authors from the Emerald Isle that have shared poetic anecdotes on what it means to be Irish. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be glad you weren’t shamed into dressing like a leprechaun. Happy reading! … Read More
The Authors With the Juiciest Love Lives
Today marks the 140th anniversary of the birth of Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, the French novelist and performer who was, during her lifetime, hailed as France’s greatest female writer. She also had a particularly exciting love life, and a pretty stupendous life in general, and her sensual semi-autobiographical novels continue to delight readers to this day. To honor Colette’s birthday, we’ve put together a list of a few of the famous authors with the juiciest love lives, to inspire us all to love a little more extravagantly. And hey, Valentine’s Day is coming up. Read about them after the jump, and if we’ve forgotten your favorite tale of literary romance, add it to our list in the comments. … Read More
10 Novels to Solve All of Your Problems
There’s no denying it — the self-help book business is booming. Recently, we read a fascinating article in New York magazine that argues that part of the reason the industry is doing well is that publishers have changed the way we think about self-help — no longer just how-tos, but memoirs, narrative nonfiction, business writing, and yes, even novels are making their way onto that once-scoffed-at shelf. Indeed, why relegate yourself to cheesy self-help books proper when you could clear that paranoia/codependency/narcissism right up with a good novel? A novel, you say? Which novel? Never fear, sufferers: after the jump, we prescribe (though take our comments with a grain of salt, we’re nerds, not doctors) a few books to cure whatever ails you. Have some prescriptions of your own? Be a good Samaritan and leave them in the comments. … Read More
Breakup Letters From Famous Authors
The holidays are a time for joy, love, and family. Unfortunately, they’re also the time of year that a lot of couples break up — whether because of the stress of extended family get-togethers or just the cold feet of winter, we don’t know. But how to part ways in the most eloquent way? Take a few pointers from one of your favorite authors, of course! We’ve collected a few breakup letters from famous lovers and writers to offer you some gentle phrases and piercing metaphors to make the process easier (or harder, if you prefer) on your ex-lover-to-be. We just hope you’re not writing this from prison, à la a certain Mr.… Read More
Famous Last Words: 15 Authors’ Epitaphs
In this the spookiest of months, we find ourselves occupied with the world’s darker themes, and we got to wondering — what words have sent famous men and women of letters into the great unknown? Or perhaps more precisely, which words were chosen to honor them for eternity? From the tongue-in-cheek to the ponderously serious, from the knightly to the poetic, and even one that doubles as a grave robber’s curse, we’re fascinated by the epitaphs of famous authors, so we’ve collected a few of them here for your shivering pleasure.… Read More
Fascinating Photographs of Famous Literary Characters in Real Life
Though they exist in our minds in many forms — the way we conjured them up at first reading, the way they were illustrated or the way they were portrayed on screen — many of our most famous literary characters are in fact based on real people, and have “true” faces beyond any adaptation. Or at least to some extent — at least in fiction, very few characters are true carbon copies (except Kerouac’s). After the jump, we’ve collected a few photographs of the real people behind famous literary characters to invade your memories. Click through to check them out, and since there are of course many more to add to this list, get to it in the comments. … Read More
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