Arts
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Sneak Preview: Homer in Ian McKellen’s English
Yesterday we brought you a snippet of the Iliad in the Original Greek. How about The Odyssey in Ian McKellen’s sonorous rendition? https://youtu.be/lgB9vxYT9kw?list=PLyr11gt6ZVmkPkp3lb4Kocn8vJJy-cICQ All there on Youtube, all for free. I love the twenty-first century so much. Come back Monday when The History of Literature takes a look at Homer. In the meantime, you can Continue reading
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Restless Mind Show #1 – Comedy and Authority
The Restless Mind Show! Jacke and Gar take a break from the history of literature to examine the nature of comedy and what makes us laugh. Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 51:36 — 35.4MB) Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS | More Subscribe Options Continue reading
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Is Literature Dying?
Okay, the new podcast is off to a great start! Many thanks to all the listeners, wherever you are, and whoever you may be. It seems that a lot of you have the same question I do: Is literature dying? I know what you’re thinking: sounds like a straw man! I get it, I get it. Continue reading
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Small Press Shout-Out: Black Balloon Publishing!
Okay, today’s small press is definitely on the quirkier side. How quirky? Quirkier than that. It just might be the quirkiest of any of our small press shout-outs thus far. First things first. Black Balloon’s website is gorgeous. Not very quirky! Just elegant and beautiful. But then there’s this motto: We champion the weird, the Continue reading
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Small Press Shout-Out: Akashic Books!
Here we go! Back to Brooklyn for another small press shout-out. This week, we look at Akashic Books, which describes itself as a Brooklyn-based independent company dedicated to publishing urban literary fiction and political nonfiction by authors who are either ignored by the mainstream, or who have no interest in working within the ever-consolidating ranks Continue reading
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Small Press Shout-Out: Ugly Duckling Presse!
A presse! We’re obviously big fans of the extra e here at the Jacke blog. But there’s more than just creative spelling going on over at Ugly Duckling. There’s the logo (Toyota-like in its ability to combine the presse’s letters into a recognizable symbol). But none of that matters as much as the catalog. And Continue reading
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Small Press Shout-Out: OR Books!
A refuge for renegades, OR Books was founded by John Oakes and Colin Robinson (the O and the R), who together have published an impressive roster of authors in their careers, including Tariq Ali, Andrei Codrescu, Noam Chomsky, Alexander Cockburn, R. Crumb, Cory Doctorow, Andrea Dworkin, Eric Hobsbawm, Abbie Hoffman, Lewis Lapham, Gordon Lish, Rigoberta Continue reading
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Small Press Shoutout: SALT Publishing!
Back again with another small press shoutout! This week we hop across the pond to look at Salt Publishing, which for 15 years has been independently dedicated to creating “A New British Fiction Movement.” Why are they called Salt? Maybe it’s an acronym? Maybe it’s a tribute to the number-one spice? Meat preservation? The taste Continue reading
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Small Press Shoutout: Other Press!
Back again with another small press shoutout! This week we look at Other Press, which focuses on authors with a “passion to discover the limits of knowledge and the imagination.” Oh boy! The editors of Other Press come with some gilded resumes indeed. Here’s an excerpt from Publisher Judith Gurewitch’s bio: Born in Canada and Continue reading
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Small Press Shoutout: The Permanent Press!
I’ve decided to return to one of the blog’s most popular features, the Small Press Shoutout. This week we take a look at The Permanent Press, which has been cranking out titles since 1978. Started by husband-and-wife team Martin and Judith Shepard, their catalog includes several award-winning mysteries and the undersung Icelandic novelist Halldor Laxness Continue reading
Jacke Wilson 