Posts Tagged ‘literature’

“Please don’t go. We’ll eat you up. We love you so.”

 
Maurice Sendak
 

By now I’m sure everyone has heard that Maurice Sendak, world-renowned illustrator and beloved author of some of the most impactful and enduring children’s books, died this morning in his Connecticut home. The New York Times said he was “widely considered the most important children’s book artist of the 20th century, who wrenched the picture book out of the safe, sanitized world of the nursery and plunged it into the dark, terrifying and hauntingly beautiful recesses of the human psyche.” For those of us who grew up with his work, Maurice Sendak is linked inextricably with our love of reading and our most early experiences of feeling “hey, someone out there gets me.”

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Posted on 05/08/12
 

The Lady in Gold

 
klimt_bloch-bauer1
 

From an homage in plastic by Mattel (they made her into a Barbie) to a new book by Anne-Marie O’Connor, Gustav Klimt’s 1907 masterpiece “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer” has been enjoying something of a pop culture renaissance.

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Posted on 02/16/12
 

Word Made Flesh

 
Kurt Vonnegut inspired tattos
 

I came across a fascinating article on the Publisher’s Weekly blog PWxya about books that inspire tattoos. I love the concept of having a tattoo drawn from a favorite book, and before now had no idea this was such a popular genre.

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Posted on 01/25/12
 

Pondering a Nom de Plume

 
nom de plume
 

Throughout my life I’ve been acquainted with people whose names are ready made for marquees and dust jackets. Names so poetic or fanciful they make me want to slap my parents for failing to be born into a family with a more aesthetically pleasing surname or, at the very least, for not being more creative when bestowing given names to their children.

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Posted on 11/15/11
 

Happy Birthday Richard Scarry

 
Richard Scarry Google Doodle
 

Richard Scarry’s Best Story Book Everwas one of my favorites growing up, although I’m sure I had several of his books, a bibliophile even then. Today, on what would have been his 92nd birthday, Google honors this beloved children’s author with their homepage doodle.

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Posted on 06/05/11
 

Googling Jules Verne

 
Jules Verne Google doodle
 

Love this!

In honor of author Jules Verne’s 183rd birthday, today Google’s homepage features an interactive doodle that allows visitors to navigate underwater scenes straight out of “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”

Posted on 02/08/11
 

Being Beautiful

 
floria-simone-de-beauvoir-sourire-interieur
 

In a recent post, The Moment explores the question of whether feminist, social theorist and existential philosopher Simone de Beauvoir was beautiful.

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Posted on 04/21/10