Category Archives: Writing

J.R.R. reads The Hobbit

Posted on September 10, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

In 1952, J.R.R. Tolkien stopped by to visit a friend and to pick-up a manuscript. While he was there, the friend persuaded the author to record a bit of his novel The Hobbit. The 30-minute recording session wasn’t filmed, but … Continue reading →

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New York Loses Its Voice

Posted on August 25, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

The Village Voice, New York City’s iconic alternative weekly newspaper, has announced the end of its print publication. Co-founded by writer Norman Mailer in 1955, the Pulitzer Prize winning free paper is shifting to a completely digital platform. The paper has … Continue reading →

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How Meta

Posted on August 24, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

I ran across the gif above on a book blog and was skeptical when it was described as a clip of Humphrey Bogart on the set of Howard Hawks’ 1946 film noir classic The Big Sleep. With just a little sleuthing, I … Continue reading →

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Sharing is caring

Posted on August 17, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

When I was scrambling to learn a little Russian last year prior to a trip, I naively thought that shared letters between the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets would somehow make the task a little easier. Of course that proved to … Continue reading →

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It was a dark and stormy night

Posted on August 8, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Each year, the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest receives hundreds of entrants all competing to craft the worst opening sentence for an imaginary novel. The annual event celebrates English author and politician Edward Bulwer-Lytton, who once penned the infamous line “It was … Continue reading →

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Listen to the dark voices

Posted on August 4, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Karel Capek  

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Why Real Books Are Great

Posted on July 30, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

h/t Strand Book Store  

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Miracle of Dunkirk

Posted on July 26, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

I had the opportunity to see Christopher Nolan’s exceptional film Dunkirk this past weekend and have been ruminating on the experience since. I won’t spoil the film by commenting much on the content, however I strongly urge you to view it on … Continue reading →

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Strangers Have The Best Candy

Posted on July 12, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

The Bookseller/Diagram Prize For Oddest Book Title of the Year, usually just called the Diagram Prize, is awarded each year to the book that voters think has the most unusual title. This year’s shortlist was recently announced by the British … Continue reading →

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The Winds of Winter is coming

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

The Winds of Winter, the long awaited next book in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Fire and Ice series doesn’t seem to be forthcoming, however we loyal fans will have to continue to make do with the HBO TV series Game of Thrones. I’d … Continue reading →

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