Category Archives: Writing

Vintage Murakami

Posted on October 7, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Vintage books has reissued its Haruki Murakami 15-book backlist with redesigned covers based on a unified color palette of red, black and white, and the use of the circle as a central motif. The original illustrations were screenprinted by Israeli-born … Continue reading →

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Ban This Book

Posted on October 6, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Today is the final official day of 2012 Banned Book Week. I thought we’d “celebrate” with this comic created by Grant Snider. You can see more of Grant’s clever work over at his website called Incidental Comics. Take a look.

Posted in Art, Books, Freedom of Speech, USA, Writing | Tagged | 2 Comments

A Sense of Place

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Penguin has created a very cool audio/visual tour of London locales that appear in Zadie Smith’s new novel NW. The “tour” covers four significant locations in the book, including Camden Lock. Users can launch location videos with layered audio readings … Continue reading →

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Bane of Banned Books

Posted on September 30, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Banned Books Week is the national book community’s annual celebration of the freedom to read. Hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the United States draw attention to the dangers of censorship by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a … Continue reading →

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How Insulting

Posted on September 23, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Here’s the perfect little tool for crafting witty three-word responses to those churlish, boil-brained flap-dragons who post ridiculously offensive comments to your Facebook posts. Just choose one word from each column and let the Elizabethan insults fly. Related articles Barbed … Continue reading →

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The Key to Character

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

In celebration of the bicentennial of Charles Dickens’ birth, the New York Public Library has opened a wonderful, special exhibition called “Charles Dickens: The Key to Character”. Running through January 27, 2013, and held in the iconic Stephen A. Schwartzman … Continue reading →

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Literature vs Traffic

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

This past summer our favorite Spanish street art collective Luzinterruptus  visited Melbourne, Australia and made a lasting impression with the reprise of their installation called “Literature vs. Traffic”. The work, which they previously offered in New York City, incorporated more … Continue reading →

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Salman Rushdie Says Thanks

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Salman Rushdie recently issued an open letter to independent booksellers expressing his gratitude for their long support of his work. The image below offers the full text of his message. “I have never ceased to be grateful for what the … Continue reading →

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Take a stand against censorship

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Banned Book Week campaign against censorship in America. The folks at Bookmans Entertainment Exchange in Arizona have continued their three decade-long commitment to the cause with a compelling video (see below). The six … Continue reading →

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Margaret Atwood Rules

Posted on September 9, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

If you’ve visited this little blog on a regular basis, you are aware of our abiding love for Margaret Atwood. So, it was a treat to find her recent post at the Granta blog on rules for fiction writers. Margaret Atwood’s … Continue reading →

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