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What we're reading:

Where do childhood memories go?
(Wall Street Journal): Adults rarely remember the earliest years of childhood—a condition called infantile amnesia. New research shows it might have to do with how the experiences are encoded in the brain

Germans, in Confederate gray
(Atlantic): Yoni Appelbaum explores why so many Germans are participating in Civil War re-enactments on the side of the Confederacy

Junot Díaz on what disasters reveal
(Boston Review): "We...must refuse the temptation to look away when confronted with disasters. We must refuse the old stories that tell us to interpret social disasters as natural disasters. We must refuse the familiar scripts of victims and rescuers that focus our energies solely on charity instead of systemic change."

Today's quote:

"I respect the role of the critic in the arts, and want to hear their voices, but I am concerned by one thing. Criticise as you will, but be careful not to put off the new audience. Any emerging theatre audience needs to be led to the places where they might drink, have fun and discover that the theatre holds something for them. Don't head them off at the pass. Let the new get started. This work may be for them, not for you."  read more »

What we're reading:

By any other name
(Times Literary Supplement): A new book by Jennifer Potter on the history of rose cultivation and symbolism

The best street photographer you've never heard of
(Mother Jones): Vivian Maier's photographs feel like "a celebration of people—a celebration of what Studs Terkel, the late grand oral historian, liked to call 'the etceteras' of the world

The case for making private data public
(Boston Globe): Perhaps it is better to imagine data as a public resource: "a bountiful trove of information about our society which, if properly managed and cared for, can help us set better policy"

Today's quote:

"There are books on our shelves we haven't read and doubtless never will, that each of us has probably put to one side in the belief that we will read them later on, perhaps even in another life. The terrible grief of the dying as they realise their last hour is upon them and they still haven't read Proust."

~ Jean-Claude Carrière, "Author Umberto Eco and script-writer Jean-Claude Carrière make some surprising revelations about the scope of their reading" (Guardian)

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What we're reading:

Foreign orchestras offer misleading credentials
(New York Times): "The Dublin Philharmonic that played two years ago in nearly 50 towns? Mostly Bulgarians. The Moscow State Radio Symphony Orchestra that toured the United States last year? Largely freelancers." A classical music agency is mostly to blame.

How's Ai Weiwei doing?
(Guardian): According to his wife, he appears to be physically healthy but mentally conflicted, with red eyes and visible tension

The School of Life
(London Review of Books): Classes at Alain de Botton’s London school include "Filling the God-Shaped Hole", "How to Face Death" and "How to be Cool"

Today's quote:

"No, writing cannot be taught. Yes, writing programs are a scam—a kind of Ponzi scheme. Yes, writing programs make all writers sound alike. Yes, they turn writers away from the “real world,” where the real stories are, fastening their gazes to their navels. No, MFA students do not learn anything truly valuable."

~ Mark McGurl, author of  "The Program Era: Postwar Fiction and the Rise of Creative Writing" (Los Angeles Review of Books)

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What we're reading:

What makes Jo Nesbø's books so addictive? 
(Slate): The Scandinavians are particularly good at crime writing. Why is that? Jo Nesbø, author of "The Snowman", among other titles, is the latest delight of the thriller-writing world

Paul Simon doesn’t like to play second fiddle 
(Guardian): There is a lack of harmony in the world of folk music: Paul Simon is quarrelling with Bob Dylan. Coming second to Dylan is one of his complaints, as well having his recent offer of a duet turned down

Man’s best friend, in love and war
(Foreign Policy): One member of the crack team that got Osama bin Laden was a dog. Armed forces are increasingly relying on four-legged friends to help in war. A related slideshow documents the extraordinary life of a military dog

Today's quote:  read more »

What we're reading:

But where is Ai Weiwei
(Guardian): The artist has been missing for almost 40 days; there is an "unconfirmed and appalling graphic report, by a disaffected Xinhua journalist writing under a pseudonym, that Ai has been tortured, and has begun to confess to his supposed crimes"

American culture and the rise of reality TV
(New Yorker): "In an era of televised precocity—ambitious HBO dramas, cunningly self-aware sitcoms—reality shows still provide a fat target for anyone seeking symptoms or causes of American idiocy"

The man who reinvented Jesus
(Wall Street Journal): It was Rembrandt who recast Jesus as a poor ascetic with black hair and brown eyes. A new exhibition explores the artist's depictions of Christ

Today's quote:

"Shooting a film itself is nothing but banalities... However, there's very rare moments where I get the feeling sometimes I'm like the little girl in the fairy tale who steps out into the night, in the stars, and she holds her apron open, and the stars are raining into her apron. Those moments I have seen and I have had. But they are very rare."

~ Werner Herzog, filmmaker "Mad German Auteur, Now in 3-D!" (GQ) 

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What we're reading:

Julie Taymor has a sense of humour about "Spider-Man"
(Wall Street Journal): At a Q&A she quipped about receiving the Susan B. Anthony “Failure is Impossible” award: “I thought, well that’s timely!”

"Book of Mormon" leads in Tony nominations
(New York Times): The irreverent musical (reviewed by The Economist here) from the creators of "South Park" led the pack; "Priscilla Queen of the Desert" was snubbed

Digital book sales soar in Britain
(BBC): In 2010 sales of e-books and audio-book downloads in the "general titles" category went from £4m to £16m, according to the Publishers Association

Today's quote:

"I don't like provocation. Ai Weiwei thinks this is New York in the 1970s, where you can do anything without fear, the more extreme the better."

~ Chen Danqing, one of China's most popular painters (Los Angeles Times) 

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What we're reading:

We love to read memoirs
(New York Review of Books): And why not, asks Lorrie Moore. It would be heartless not to be interested in them, but their popularity means that many young people are already writing theirs.

How to write a sentence
(New Republic): Praise for a new book by Stanley Fish, for whom "a great sentence is like a great athletic performance. It is an example of something done supremely well, so well that it cannot be bettered"

What makes something totalitarian art?
(Foreign Affairs): A new book by Igor Golomstock examines the remarkable similarities of the totalitarian art of different countries, demonstrating "the universality of the mechanisms of totalitarian culture"

Today's quote:

"The publishing industry was in decline, the economy was in a bad place... I just want to keep writing prose. To do that it has got to pay for itself in some way."

~ Harry Hurt III, an author, about his reasons for incorporating product placements in his book (Australian)

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What we're reading:

Warm climes, smart times
(Telegraph): Rebecca Newman on the podcasts, talks and festivals that make up the current intellectual updraft

'Blowing up the book'
(Wired): Former Apple engineers Kimon Tsinteris and Mike Matas teamed up with Al Gore to create a new publishing platform called Push Pop Press

Going to the movies, online
(Los Angeles Times): Google's YouTube competes directly with Apple's iTunes and Amazon.com by expanding its on-demand rental service with films from big Hollywood studios

Today's quote:

“Contrary to recent news reports, I have not willingly participated in any book written or to be written by Marja Mills. Neither have I authorized such a book. Any claims otherwise are false."

~ A statement by Harper Lee's lawyers "‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ Author Repudiates Journalist’s Memoir About Her" (New York Times) 

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What we're reading:

A tribute to Tim Hetherington
(CNN): The Oscar-nominated photojournalist was killed in the war-torn Libyan city of Misrata last week; Peter Bergen writes about the "humble" and "modest" man who could be relied on to take the grittiest pictures of combat. A slideshow of his work in Afghanistan can be seen here

Race and racing on film
(Boston Globe): It seems the most progressive force in Hollywood today is the “Fast and Furious” movies; of the 30 highest-grossing films from last year, only two featured important non-white characters

Pankaj Mishra on Gandhi
(New Yorker): Was the 20th century’s most famous advocate of nonviolent politics also its most spectacular political failure?

Today's quote:

"My husband John Lennon was a very special man... My husband did not deserve this. He was in no way ready to die. He was feeling good with the prospect of doing a concert tour after making the album which became his last. He would have gladly changed his position with the 'subject,' and live the life of protection that the 'subject' enjoys now... John cannot do any of that now."  read more »

What we're reading:

Ten most frequently challenged library books of the year
(GalleyCat): The list is topped by an award-winning children’s book about two male penguins who hatch and care for a baby chick; Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickel and Dimed" also makes the list, as does "The Hunger Games". Don't people know that the best way to lure readers is to make a book controversial?

Orange prize shortlist announced
(Independent): The list of six books by women includes three first-time novelists "tackling macabre subjects"; the award ceremony takes place in June

Salter and sex
(Paris Review): Alexander Chee on James Salter's sexy realism: "Too much writing about sex tries to either make it prettier or more serious, sexier or funnier or shocking, or anything, really, except what it is. On its own terms, sex is information. This I learned from reading Salter." 

Today's quote:

"Someone has to speak up for the London skyline. It is being viciously attacked, invaded by philistines, and a nation stunned into acceptance of every monstrosity so long as we are told it is modern seems happy to see taste, style and proportion go out of the window. Why are we putting up with the Shard?"  read more »