Bill Cheng's Blog, page 128
February 18, 2013
Man, if Ian McEwan has crises of faith in fiction, how should the rest of us feel?
“Months can go by, and then there comes a shift, a realignment. It starts with a nudge. A detail, a phrase, or a sentence can initiate the beginning of a return to the fold. It needn’t be brilliant. It only has to exude a certain kind of imaginative warmth.”
picadorbookroom:
“I really enjoy writing novels. It’s like the...
“I really enjoy writing novels. It’s like the ocean. You can just build a boat and take off.”—Denis Johnson
February 17, 2013
neil-gaiman:
zophop:
Neil Gaiman on Alan Moore’s life.
Drawn...
Neil Gaiman on Alan Moore’s life.
Drawn by the amazing Mark Buckingham. I think we did this for a celebration of Alan’s 50th Birthday.
it is, of course, all true.
February 16, 2013
The 50 best literary insults
“Well, well, well, well. If it isn’t fat, stinking billygoat Billy-Boy in poison. How art thou, thy globby bottle of cheap, stinking chip-oil? Come and get one in the yarbles, if you have any yarbles, you eunuch jelly thou.” Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange
myimaginarybrooklyn:
Superman Contract For Anti-Gay Author...
Superman Contract For Anti-Gay Author Causes Growing Anger
Orson Scott Card’s express opposition to gay rights has prompted 10,000-strong petition to DC Comics
The swell of opinion against DC Comics’ choice of the anti-gay author Orson Scott Card to write the new Superman comic is growing, with more than 10,000 signatures on a petition calling on the publisher to drop Card, and one retailer already making the decision to boycott the comic.
Card is the bestselling author of the science fiction classic Ender’s Game. He is also a Mormon known for his anti-gay rhetoric (he has saidthat “the dark secret of homosexual society … is how many homosexuals first entered into that world through a disturbing seduction or rape or molestation or abuse, and how many of them yearn to get out of the homosexual community and live normally”, and that gay marriageis “the end of democracy in America”). DC announced last week that he would be writing the first issue in its new “Adventures of Superman” series, a decision that has been heavily criticised.
Almost 11,000 readers have signed a petition at All Out that calls on DC to” stand for equality”, telling the publisher: “By hiring Orson Scott Card despite his anti-gay efforts you are giving him a new platform and supporting his hate. Make sure your brand stands for equality and drop Orson Scott Card now.”
And Zeus Comics in Dallas has announced that it will not stock the forthcoming comic by Card, with owner Richard Neal writing on his Facebook page: “Card sits on the board of the National Organization of Marriage which fights against marriage equality. His essays advocate the destruction of my relationship, that I am born of rape or abuse and that I am equated with paedophilia. These themes appear in his fiction as well. It is shocking DC Comics would hire him to write Superman, a character whose ideals represent all of us.”
Neal suggests that “if you replaced the word ‘homosexuals’ in his essays with the words ‘women’ or ‘Jews’”, Card would not have been hired, asking “why it’s still okay to ‘have an opinion’ about gays?”
DC Comics has responded to the criticism with a statement, that “as content creators we steadfastly support freedom of expression, however the personal views of individuals associated with DC Comics are just that – personal views – and not those of the company itself.”
And not all responses to its decision to hire Card have been negative.Kick-Ass writer Mark Millar tweeted that “petitioning to have writer Orson Scott Card fired for his social views is as fascistic as politicians condemning a sexual preference”, and comics journalist Rich Johnston of the site Bleeding Cool News took the stance that he found “the idea of campaigning to get a writer fired because you disagreed with his beliefs, however abhorrent, problematic”.
Card’s fans, meanwhile, have started a rival petition, in a bid to “catch up” with the petition at All Out. According to Card’s fans, “Superman stands for truth, justice, and the American Way. Superman would stand up for Card’s right to free thought and free speech, even when it isn’t popular”. So far, this petition has gathered 80 signatures.
hmm…
Had a blast at the release party last night over at the...
Had a blast at the release party last night over at the Richardson in Williamsburg. My copy is already in the mail.
February 15, 2013
strandbooks:
Underlined passage, Sailing Alone Around the Room...
Underlined passage, Sailing Alone Around the Room by Billy Collins, page 36.
“Everything is so perfect. So short.”
The last time I saw Billy Collins read it was at the CUNY Graduate Center back in, what, 2003? 2004? Is he still around town doing readings? I sure as hell hope so.
deadbeatsblog:
“But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have...
“But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”
― W.B. Yeats, The Wind Among the Reeds 1899
