Every week in a competition of wits The New Yorker asks a question of the Twitter-verse. One of our favorite questions was when they asked followers to reply to the question, "What's the worst job in literature?" Although James Joyce's proofreader appeared several times in the list, most tweeters stuck to the fictional theme. In the…
Category: Top 10
The Greatest Books of All Time
Is it possible to rank the world's best literature? Well, no, and we're certainly not going to try. Although in 2007, one publication did. Now we ask, did it get it right? The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books is a collection of "Top Ten" lists provided by some of the world's most respected authors--125…
Top Ten Lines To Live By
You know those lines in novels (and poems)--in great works full of great lines--that just stop you in your tracks? Lines that seem to serve a greater purpose than to merely further the rest of the work, like the author or poet had to insert their philosophical musings somewhere? Poets & Writers Magazine has a tumblr…
Sing It, Shakes! Shakespeare in Pop Music
In the Merchant of Venice, the Prince of Morocco warns, "All that glisters is not gold." This sage advice has been repeated in some unlikely sources, from Led Zepplin's "Stairway to Heaven" to Marilyn Manson's "Posthuman." Here are some other instances of modern musicians who pay lyrical homage to Shakespeare: Line from Highway 61 Revisited,…
Top Ten Summer Reading Suggestions
Since I was a very small child, the absolute best thing about summer was the extra time to read. My mother, fed up with me being in the house, would throw me outside to "get some sunshine." So I took my book outside, sat on the porch, and waited to be let in. Like a…
Ten Character Sketches, Sketched: Portraits of Literature’s Most Infamous and Memorable
Ever wonder what your favorite, or most haunting, characters from literature might actually look like? Many writers give readers vivid descriptions but very few of their characters have ever "sat" for a portrait. Artist, avid reader, and blogger Brian Joseph Davis came up with the idea to create these "composite" sketches of literary characters, using…
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Top Ten Classics Dissed: Amazon Commenters Fight Back!
Recently, the blog Brain Pickings wrote a piece titled "The Greatest Books of All Time, as Voted by 125 Famous Authors." Well, apparently none of these "famous authors" consulted some of the people who had previously commented on their selections at Amazon.com. Here is a sampling of their....err.... opinions.... 1. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov "I…
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“Don’t Look at Me in That Tone of Voice”: Ten Lesser-Known Women Writers Who Kick Butt
Recently, Flavorwire published an article titled "10 Legendary Bad Girls of Literature." They made some worthy choices: Sappho, Dorothy Parker, and Anais Nin among them. While these names are well-known, there are other notable women with less fame who also deserve some accolades. 1. Jeannette Winterson Winterson is not unknown, of course, but she ought…
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