THE SLIPPAGE
Ben Greenman
(Harper Perennial, 288 pp., $14.99)
Richard Yates, author of the archetypal account of marital discontent in the suburbs, Revolutionary Road, once said, “If my work has a theme, I suspect it is a simple one: that most human beings are inescapably alone, and therein lies their tragedy.” Ben Greenman, whose new novel The Slippage chronicles a marriage beset with infidelity and isolation, could easily say the same. Read More
The contestants represented New York’s spelling elite. Many of them had whole careers’ worth of spelling behind them, elevated reputations and steady salaries underpinned by the public’s faith in their agility with words.
Now, sitting in two rows before an audience on the third floor of the Standard Hotel, wearing comically large name tags and sparkly bumblebee antennae that bobbled gently as they fidgeted, they awaited the bloodletting. Read More
Last night at Drom, a metaphor comparing (of all things) the hand of a friend about to give one his first pubescent homosexual handjob and a sucking starfish helped to win The Man in the Gray Flannel Skirt author Jon-Jon Goulian first place in the Literary Death Match. The 5-year-old event is currently on a two month tour through 31 cities, the New York version of which included an unlikely cast of literary, tech, and comedy types.
Mr. Goulian was matched for a seven-minute reading in the first round against Emily Gould, who read a new piece about a girl in Kansas who had kind of a shitty boyfriend and didn’t like to jog (but did it anyway). Read More
The New Yorker launched an iPhone app today that enhances the magazine’s Goings On About Town (GOAT) listings with digital doodads like maps, GPS, links to buy tickets and contact venues, the option to filter by date, filter by location filters, and clip-and-save favorites, editor Ben Greenman announced today.
It also includes original text and audio from marquis New Yorker names like Alex Ross, Susan Orlean, Roz Chast, Peter Schjeldahl, Paul Goldberger, Calvin Trillin and Patricia Marx. The announcement suggests the New Yorker has found a way to offer a digital point of entry to the magazine without diluting the brand or sacrificing their subscription revenue. Read More
Village Voice columnist Michael Musto, Harper publisher Jonathan Burnham, artist Maira Kalman, author James Frey, Vogue editor Sally Singer and others gathered at Diane von Furstenberg’s studio beneath the High Line on Monday, Oct. 26, for a spelling bee to support the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses and independent publishing.
“I’m so damn, Read More
Wednesday night, Bomb, Opium, and Gigantic co-hosted “You Don’t Know Me,” an end-of-summer lit-mag blowout. The Bowery Electric had donated the space, while friends of the magazines had donated their talent, providing performances that ranged from a bluegrass band to a short play. And the generous editors had provided the vodka, which probably made the Read More
In the Memorial Day weekend movie listings, you might have noticed an unusual matching of showtime and feature: The United Artists Union Square 14 scheduled the G-rated animated horse movie Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron at … 1:40 a.m.
“We show late movies a lot,” explained a manager at the Union Square 14, who declined Read More
