Wednesday Linkstorm
Roald Dahl's birthday is tomorrow. You agreed to Augustus Gloop it up a pipe in celebration, remember? Cool, cool, I'll bring the chocolate river.Brett Easton Ellis is reading that new D.T. Max bio and he's apparently got a bee in his bonnet about David Foster Wallace. Check out his tweets. He's all over the Internet calling DFW pretentious and a fraud. Which, okay, but DFW is dead. He can't fight back. Also someone was recently describing the plot of Lunar Park to me (Ellis' latest novel) and it apparently involves a Furby coming to life. I'm gonna all-caps that for emphasis: A FURBY COMING TO LIFE. As a plot point. Hey Brett Easton Ellis, might want to chill with the insults leveled at dead writers and cultivate your garden.Speaking of DFW (sorry, this is basically a DFW fan blog*), here is a pitch letter he sent to agencies for The Broom of the System. It is arrogant and wonderful.*The Howling Fantods is the definitive DFW fan blog if you're interested.Here's an interview with the always cool Alison Bechdel (author of this graphic memoir, among others) about turning 50.BLAM. Man Booker Shortlist. Too bad they aren't all out in the U.S. yet because Booker season is my personal equivalent of Christmastime. I put on my Booker themed sweater and sing my Booker carols. I drink my Booker-specific milk-based booze drinks and do my [blahblahblah more jokes about Christmas and the Booker].Jennifer Egan reviews Telegraph Avenue, Michael Chabon's new Oakland-set novel about a father, a son, music, and a Furby that comes to life.Also from the Book Review: Joyce Carol Oates is this week's By the Book. JCO rules, and when people tell me they don't like her I want to smoosh a copy of Wonderland in their faces and be like, "She's an extremely powerful dark sorceress. She can probably hear you right now."Should we start a Linkstorm book club? Okay let's. First book is I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I've Ever Had: My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High by Tony Danza. Tony Danza's editor: "No, I love the title. Totally pithy. Impossible to forget. Actually, yeah. Could you think of any more words to add?"And here's where I link you to the trailer for the adaptation of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas. Get on board with clowning Tom Hanks' wigs cause I'm about to make that my full time job. "Occupation: WIG JOKES"--me filling out a census formOther books that drop this week: This Is How You Lose Her by our main man Junot Diaz and How Music Works by cool grandpa David Byrne. So many good books out right now! And all of them about Furbys that come to life.--Erin Somers