Surveying literature, art & culture from an altitude of 5,000 feet while traveling at 53 miles per hour

Main Menu

Book Sword: Marcel Proust, Dylan Thomas, Ian McEwan & More

By Kate Gavino

August 22, 2013

We take literary-minded words and anagram them to find ... deeper meaning? Hidden truth? Happy coincidence?

Directioners: the New Beatlemaniacs

By Jake Flanagin

August 21, 2013

Is Twitter rage of One Direction fans the next phase in fandom evolution?

Strange Finds: “Never Eat Anything Bigger Than Your Head & Other Drawings”

By jake goldman

August 20, 2013

A collection of absurd, irreverent one-panel cartoons reminiscent of The Far Side — but this book came first

Curation Nation: Jay Z, Made in America & the Death of the Curator

By Ian Bourland

August 19, 2013

From menus to music festivals, everything today is “curated” — so what does “curated” even mean?

10 Hard-Boiled Lessons from 10 Noir Films

By Freddie Moore

August 16, 2013

Film noir detectives may seem silly today, but there are still a few lessons they can teach us through their threats and hackneyed metaphors.

Cheap Wine, Plastic Chairs: Patricia Engel at McNally Jackson

By Freddie Moore

August 16, 2013

A series that celebrates everyone’s favorite part of an author reading: the Q&A. This week, Patricia Engel discusses writing, novels and the context of identity.

Looking for Porn in All the Wrong Places

By Patrick Kilkelly

August 15, 2013

How pornography laws in the United Kingdom are changing — but not really

Strange Finds: How to Disappear Completely and Never be Found

By jake goldman

August 14, 2013

Doug Richmond explains how to create a whole new life for yourself in 100 pages. (If you really want to do it, though, do the exact opposite of everything he says.)