More like “Call me Giant Babe with a weird, phallic harpoon.” Whatever, I’m cool with it.

This August, as we prepare to unleash a truly remarkable fall catalog, MobyLives will be taking a bit of a breather. We’ll still post the occasional news item or feature, but for most of this month we’ll be posting a roundup like this every morning. We will, of course, remain active on Twitter and Facebook. We hope you have a great August, and that you’ll keep checking in with us!

• The Ferguson Municipal Public Library has been acting as a rest stop, temporary classroom, and community center during the ongoing protests there. A sign in the library reads, “During difficult times, the library is quiet oasis where we can catch our breath, learn, and think about what to do next.”  (ABC News)
• Translator Fernanda Pivano introduced Italy to, consecutively, Hemingway, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Kerouac, Ginsberg, and David Foster Wallace. Along the way, she became friends with many of the writers she translated, which had upsides (long, funny, erudite letters to and from Ginsberg) and downsides (babysitting a drunk Kerouac on national TV). Evan Fleischer reads her translation of “Howl” (“Urlo”) and finds that “Tutto è santo!” (Electric Literature)
• The Nook is dead! Long live the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 Nook! It is going to be a huge hit and Barnes & Noble is going to make so much money, yes. (Barnes & Noble)
• Speaking of, Barnes & Noble isn’t planning on changing its Nook strategy, even though the two companies will split sometime next year. (CNET)
• Paul Thomas Anderson‘s adaption of Thomas Pynchon‘s Inherent Vice will open December 12. (Entertainment Weekly)
• We did the ice bucket challenge with friends. (Vintage/Anchor)
• Travis Nichols on Greenpeace, Amazon, and dirty energy. (The Believer)
• The Liverpool City Council has delayed a plan to shut 11 libraries (BBC)

Today’s passage from Moby-Dick: 

Call me Ishmael. –Chapter 1

Today’s song: “I Am Ahab” by Mastodon: