What makes a cult author?
‘Cult favourite’ has always been a loaded term in publishing: it conjures up a devoted fan-base, but is often code for ‘crap sales’. There was an interesting analysis of what it means… 1 / Read more »
Has literature always been dying since the beginning?
Circa 167 B.C., the Roman playwright Publius Terentius Afer is said to have said “Nothing is said that has not been said before.” He probably wasn’t the first person to make this… 1 / Read more »
Is tolerance bad for art?
John Waters, in this interview at The Financial Times, claims to be regretful about how gay culture has gone mainstream: I miss it … I’m for gay marriage. I don’t want to do it,… Read more »
“Nude in your hot tub, facing the abyss” — A manifesto by Lars Iyer
Lars Iyer, author of the “viciously funny” novel Spurious and the forthcoming Dogma, has published a literary manifesto at the new UK quarterly magazine, The White Review (a different version of the… Read more »
Overused Words From Our Favorite Authors – Slideshow
A few years back, Bob Harris at The New York Times presented the Seven Deadly Words of Book Reviewing, with “compelling” being one of the Serious Offenders of the Written Word, and Lake Superior State University… 1 / Read more »
Yesterday saw the launch of OccupyWriters.com, “an open letter of support by creative writers for Occupy Wall St and the Occupy movement around the world, signed by more than 1,000… Read more »
Leigh Stein, author of the forthcoming The Fallback Plan, has begun writing a weekly advice column at The Faster Times. We’ll be syndicating the column here at MobyLives. Dear… Read more »
The Paris Review’s Culture Diaries (in which artists, writers, curators, editors, filmmakers, and their bohemian ilk chronicle their art production and consumption) induces ambivalent emotions. On one hand, it’s easy to find the accounts… Read more »
HowTheLightGetsIn, the philosophy and music festival at Hay on Wye has just ended. Wait. Let me repeat that: A philosophy and music festival. Brilliant. Lars Iyer, author of the “viciously… Read more »
Perhaps concerned that the reports about his friendly gestures towards long-time enemy Paul Theroux would make him seem semi-amicable, VS Naipaul has gone to new depths to prove anew his… 6 / Read more »