Jennifer Egan: A Visit from the Goon Squad
I was a bit skeptical at first, I don't really know why, perhaps because the title didn't really appeal to me, but the first chapters quickly won me over.
Max Frisch 100th Birthday
Today marks the 100th birthday of Max Frisch, the acclaimed Swiss author most famous for his novels Stiller, Homo Faber and Mein Name sei Gantenbein.
Ira Glass' Advice To Beginning Artists
This may well be some of the best advice to beginning artists and designers. I wish someone had told me...
Michel Houellebecq: The Map and the Territory
With The Map and the Territory Michel Houellebecq proves once again that he is one of today's most interesting writers.
Michael Lewis: The Big Short
A great journalistic narrative. It reads like a thriller.
Rem Koolhaas on Architecture in the Age of Globalisation
Koolhaas talks about the changing face of architecture and the changing role of the architect in the age of globalisation. Architecture used to reflect the values of a society, now it expresses the aspirations of the architect.
Guy Deutscher: Through the Language Glass
Languages differ in what they must convey, not in what they may convey.
Escaped From the Language Lab
While playing around with Google Translate I was reminded of this essay by Dutch writer Rudy Kousbroek.
Tim Parks On McNovels and the Globalization of Literature
Tim Parks draws attention to the fact that literature is not immune to the forces of globalization.
A Finite Formula For Partitions
Two recent papers by the mathematician Ken Ono and co-authors are making waves in mathematics circles this week.
The Best Albums of 2010
2010 was another good year for music, but perhaps, as in the past four years, this reflects the fact that I sampled more albums.
Holland Animation Film Festival 2010
I was stuck on a train for several hours, so I didn't get to see all the programs I'd been planning to see and for which I already had tickets.