It’s been nine months since the first ReadRollShow video appeared: a nearly 14-minute, long-form (for us) interview with Joshua Ferris on Vimeo. Topics ranged from Cervantes to coworkers who announce their bowel movements. An auspicious start for the program, no?
Nine months, a healthy gestation. And now: life beyond the womb! Expect lots of changes from ReadRollShow in 2011. All for the good, we swear! In time we think you’ll even trust us without that baby gate at the top of the stairwell.
One note about our year-end rankings: Mr. Ferris likely would have edged out Sam Lipsyte for the #5 spot if only we hadn’t divided the aforementioned long clip into four shorter ones for YouTube; cumulatively, Ferris garnered more than enough views — almost enough to catch Sloane Crosley at #4. So we’re giving him a Most-Watched honorable mention. (Okay, we just like Ferris a lot. We’re not too proud to admit it.) [click to comment]
Pulitzer Prize winner Jonathan Weiner’s new book, Long for this World, introduces scientists who are working “to cure the disease of aging”—basically, to extend the human life span indefinitely by reprogramming our cells into a state of permanent regeneration.
Weird, right? But worth consideration, at least on a theoretical level. After all, we take for granted that life spans will continue to get longer. Who’s to say they couldn’t get much longer?
Never mind for a moment whether it’s possible. Ask yourself, Is it desirable? Assuming that you remained healthy—imagine the vitality of a 30-year-old—would you want to live for 200, 500, or 1,000 years? Sloane Crosley isn’t so sure. [click to comment]
“I sort of stumbled backwards into the whole narrative nonfiction thing,” says the bestselling essayist. “Just get all the shoe polish out of the room, and I’ll keep going.” [click to comment]
Sloane Crosley’s reading list includes several books you’ve been hearing about: the forthcoming Franzen novel (Freedom), the new Shteyngart (Super Sad True Love Story), Jonathan Lethem in paperback (Chronic City) and a sequel of sorts by Bret Easton Ellis (Imperial Bedrooms). But she reserves her true excitement for “a dark, little Canadian pellet” whose new book comes out this fall. [click to comment]
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Wordstock is a year-round Oregon nonprofit that works to promote writing in the classroom. And once a year, the Wordstock Festival takes over Portland.
Wordstock is a year-round Oregon nonprofit that works to promote writing in the classroom. And once a year, the 