I just saw Lawrence Lessig on Charlie Rose. He’s a law professor and author with close connections to Obama. And he’s a lot smarter than me. His new book is called Remix (available soon under a Creative Commons license). He proposes a dramatic revision of copyright law worldwide to fit how information is used...
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All Posts in Lit
Cultural Creators vs. Cultural Consumers
3 Books That Should Not Be Misplaced in the Self-Help Section
1. V is for Vendetta – Alan Moore 2. Go Ask Alice – Anonymous 3. Crime & Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky * Thr33s is a column created by slackers inspired by 5ives. Feel free to post your thr33s.
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Dennis Lehane and the epic novel
When I think of epic historical novels, I usually think that they are too long and poorly edited (that is probably redundant). I also expect them to cover several generations, some of which are rather uninteresting and several decades and events, many of which have no need to be remembered or romanticized. So when...
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Authors Are Ahead of Politicians
In John Updike’s “The Witches of Eastwick“, Joe Marino was an important character. He resurfaced in an ancillary way in Updike’s recent sequel “The Widows of Eastwick” (excellent book). Joe Marino in the books was a plumber. Once again art was ahead of life.
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Letters from Inspiring Writers: Alistair Harper Responds to a Groupie
Hi there, Firstly, thank you for such kind words. Even my vanity levels are not high enough to see the justification in comparing me to Lawrence Sterne, James Joyce and Thomas Pynchon in one sentence. Maybe two of the three I could handle. I got your letter in Italy in the same town that...
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Book Review: The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin
Recommended for people who like: Law and Order, The Daily Show, anything by Howard Zinn, reading footnotes, abovethelaw, Dahlia Lithwick or anything written by the Jurisprudence department of Slate.com. The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin is an examination of the Supreme Court during the tenure of Chief...
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Letters to Inspiring Writers: Dear Christopher Buckley
Dear Christopher Buckley: Each time I ride the Acela, I look for you. Maybe I’m headed to New York as you’re returning to Washington or vice versa. Maybe you walked by me at the very same moment that I had to rummage through my bag to look for a pen to sign my ticket....
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Book Review: The Late Bloomer’s Revolution by Amy Cohen
Those who know me (or who know my writing), may be surprised by my choice for my first book review attempt. It’s not that I don’t like chick-lit or that I have to be eponymous. I never expected, similar to the Jewish-female author Amy Cohen, to be addressing my own life as a single...
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Re-introduction via DFW…Morbid, I know…
Sorry to see you go, dude. Thought we could play tennis sometime. I realized this weekend that I really haven’t developed an area of expertise (pretend or valid) for this site. And I think I want to. Ironically (in the contemporary usage) I think there would much less pressure on me to create good...
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Letters to Inspiring Writers: Ellen Degeneres, I Love Your Point
Dear Ellen Degeneres: Until last week, all of my Ellen knowledge was hearsay. My little sister is a huge fan of yours. She does a killer go!gurt sketch and a pretty good “let me find my cellphone as it rings” dance. Actually, I should say I’ve heard her impersonations are pretty good. I’ve never...
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