As Ford Madox Ford famously said, “It is an easy job to say that an elephant, however good, is not a good warthog; for most criticism comes to that.”
Lovely essay from @summerbrennan.bsky.social
Where do we meet to engage our minds?
The fourth edition of The Book Supplement is here! This week we have a memoir, a novel, and two stunning new essay collections. Please read and subscribe *for free* to support independent book criticism 🙏📚. No paywall.
"Aren't reviews just promotion?" No. Books are a news beat. I read through dozens of publisher catalogues & thousands of titles to select the ones we'll cover. I don't go off anyone else's list or recs. Not every book we read makes the cut. With AI run amok, this kind of human curation is necessary.
"Aren't reviews just promotion?" No. Books are a news beat. I read through dozens of publisher catalogues & thousands of titles to select the ones we'll cover. I don't go off anyone else's list or recs. Not every book we read makes the cut. With AI run amok, this kind of human curation is necessary.
One of these days I will remember to add #Booksky to these 🤦♀️
The fourth edition of The Book Supplement is here! This week we have a memoir, a novel, and two stunning new essay collections. Please read and subscribe *for free* to support independent book criticism 🙏📚. No paywall.
I don't mean they are productive because of AI, I mean that plenty of people can wind up in charge of things, do a lot, have a lot to say, without necessarily being that bright.
As the father of a middle schooler I have seen the rebellion against AI forming there — even using “that’s AI, bro,” not indicating something is literally AI, but that something is metaphorically so — it’s sus, it’s bullshit, it’s bad weird
I immediately assume that anyone who is super into LLMs is not that bright. Productive, maybe. Bright, no.
I don't recall any previous transformative technologies that had to be sold to the public so hard. No one in 1999 was going, "Guys. Cell phone? It's coming, whether we like it or not. I think it's important, FOR WOMEN ESPECIALLY, to learn about cell phone. So that we're not left behind!!"
It may not work trying to do this here, but: I mistakenly bought two tickets for the wrong night to see the Improvised Shakespeare Company. If any NYers are interested, lmk & the tix are yours. They make up a play on the spot! Tonight at 7 at Brooklyn Improv in Wmsburg: www.improvisedshakespeare.com
Who needs to be "warned" before seeing a Picasso line drawing??
Things are, you know. Paris of course is lovely.
Stop fucking around and write the thing you need to write.
It is still wild to me that there is nonstop posting about horrific sexual predators and war and violence of all kinds on here, but this post was given a content warning because it is illustrated by a line drawing of human figures by Picasso and talks about modeling for artists.
Stop fucking around and write the thing you need to write.
Would download for $3.99.
Please, is there a browser extension that turns every use of "asked AI" into "asked a Magic 8 Ball"?
god that is terrifying
She reportedly parted ways with Bezos with a jaw-dropping $38.3 billion in Amazon stock. Their divorce settlement included a 4 % stake in the online retail giant or 19.7 million shares. Under the agreement, Bezos kept 75% of the couple's Amazon stock, along with voting control of her shares. Jan 11, 2023
MacKenzie Scott has given away over $19 billion in the last 5 years and experts say she's 'changed entire fie... MacKenzie Scott acknowledged another $2 billion in donations as 2024 comes to a close.
MacKenzie Scott, worth $41.1 billion, is on a philanthropic tear and has donated an estimated 46% of her net worth.
Just to give a sense of the insane scale of billions of dollars…MacKenzie Scott got about $38 billion after divorcing Bezos in 2019. She has become the world’s most generous philanthropist, giving away over $19 billion…and she’s currently wealthier than she started.
Just. Tax. Them.
I feel you. This club sucks to be in but I hope you have fun at the pool! I should join a pétanque club for the elderly.
Tuck a few of my sentences behind your ears when you want to feel fancy.
I said what I said.
I love the genre of essay that comes when a writer writes about when and how a particular book found them and how it changed them. Here's my old friend and colleague Peter Orner on Absalom, Absalom!
We'd be very happy to have you!
I was curious about this one, thanks!
Thanks Seth!
What is your favorite multi-volume work of biography or history? What do you like about it, and why?
(Asking for a student, many thanks!)
Yes, one can decide upon a grouping and then make arguments to support its integrity.