Category Archives: Writing

America’s Most Literate Cities

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

For the second consecutive year, Washington, D.C. , has been ranked as the most literate city in the country, according to an annual statistical survey from Connecticut Central State University in New Britain. Here is the top 10 for the … Continue reading →

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Deutschland Joins World Book Night

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Germany has become the third country to join the World Book Night celebrations. Started in the UK last year, World Book Night will take place this year on April 23rd and is centered on the give-away of millions of books … Continue reading →

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Free Art Books

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

The fabulous Guggenheim Museum in New York City recently made sixty-five classic artists’ catalogs and art texts available for free online. This treasuretrove offers many impossible to find historic catalogs from such giants as Kandinsky, Klee, Schiele, Klimt, Calder, Munch … Continue reading →

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A book about a film about a journey to a Room

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

I’m a big fan of British novelist/essayist/travel writer/critic Geoff Dyer (although some of his recent New York Times Book Review columns have baffled me). So, I was intrigued by the news that Dyer has written a book which explores the … Continue reading →

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There’s a Bluebird in My Heart

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

If you follow TBTP, you may be somewhat weary of the frequent Bukowski posts and stories. Well too bad because here’s another. Published in the 1992 anthology The Last Night of Earth Poems, Charles Bukowski‘s unusually tender poem “The Bluebird” … Continue reading →

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Buy Where You Shop

Posted on January 15, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Our friends at the amazing family-owned, indie Harvard Book Store located in the very heart of Cambridge, MA have produced this humorous, but guilt-inducing little video to urge book buyers to stop using indie bookstores as showrooms to browse for … Continue reading →

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Brando Blanked Kerouac

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

In 1957, Jack Kerouac wrote to Marlon Brando begging him to buy the film rights to his novel On the Road and to turn it into a movie. Kerouac pitched the idea that Brando could play Dean Moriarty and that … Continue reading →

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Pop-up Guide to the Galaxy

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

The fantastic series PBS Off Book has given us some truly wonderful and enlightening mini-documentary films on such varied and diverse topics as Steampunk, Product Design, Generative Art and Typography. Now, they have produced a terrific film on Book Art. … Continue reading →

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Nobel Jury Snubs JRR Tolkien

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

Well, actually the Nobel jury snub happened fifty years ago,but the despicable story only just surfaced. The Swedish newspaper Sydsvenska Dagbladet recently disclosed the sordid details after snooping in the official Nobel archives in Stockholm. It seems that C.S. Lewis … Continue reading →

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New Year’s Resolutions

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Brian D. Butler

I never make New Year’s resolutions, but the late great Woody Gutherie did. Here’s the list that he wrote in 1942 at the age of 30. 1. Work more and better 2. Work by a schedule 3. Wash teeth if … Continue reading →

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