This week it was announced that the infamous Algonquin Hotel has been purchased by the Marriott hotel chain. In June of 1919, a group of writers, critics, journalists, and actors—among them, Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, Edna Ferber, Alexander Woollcott, and Harpo Marx—began meeting for lunch at the Algonquin Hotel. The hotel was a short distance from the offices…
The Pale King: David Foster Wallace’s Unfinished Novel To Be Published
""Try to learn to let what is unfair teach you." ~ David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest Indeed it is unfair that the literary world lost one of its most unique and inspiring voices when David Foster Wallace committed suicide in 2008, but he may still have something to teach us. At the time of his death, Wallace had been working…
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Man Booker Prize Shortlist Announced
One of the most coveted accolades in the literary world is to be shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. As 1996 winner Graham Swift commented, "Prizes don't make writers and writers don't write to win prizes, but in the near-glut of literary awards now on offer, the Booker remains special. It's the one which, if…
Win a Year’s Supply of Bacon From eNotes!
Sure, we are pretty fond of Sir Francis around here, but nothing beats a sizzling pan full of the other white meat. In honor of every college student's favorite food, eNotes is giving away a year’s supply of bacon. That’s right. A YEAR’S SUPPLY OF BACON from BaconFreak will be delivered to your doorstep, and…
Watch The New Hamlet Film Online
PBS is now streaming their recent adaptation of Hamlet starring David Tennant as Hamlet, Sir Patrick Stewart as Claudius and the Ghost, Oliver Ford Davies as Polonius, Mariah Gale as Ophelia, and Edward Bennet as Laertes. The film was directed by Gregory Doran. Watch Hamlet here. Brush up on the play with our Hamlet Summary.
Just How Many Books Are There? Google’s Massive Project to Count Them ALL
Books to the ceiling, books to the sky, / My piles of books are a mile high. / How I love them! / How I need them! / I'll have a long beard by the time I read them. ~Arnold Lobel Have you ever wondered just how many books are actually out there? Well, thanks…
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Franz Kafka’s Lost Writings Resurface
“In the fight between you and the world, back the world.” ~ Franz Kafka Elderly sisters, Ruth Wisler and Eva Hoffe, might want to take Kafka's warning to heart. For years, the siblings have had a secret. Their mother had been a secretary for Max Brod. Brod had been Kafka's publisher as well as a…
Happy Bloomsday!
Perhaps June 16th snuck up on you. You have been going about your day unaware...but you notice something is definitely...off. It seems that wherever you go, people are bellowing what appears to be stream-of-consciousness ranting, slapping one another on the back, and usually hoisting a Guinness aloft. Well, at least that's what happens to ME…