Iris Blasi

May 17

“Memoir’s not an easy form. It’s not for beginners, which is unfortunate, as it is where many people do begin.Memoir’s not an easy form. It’s not for beginners, which is unfortunate, as it is where many people do begin.” Hilary Mantel, to The New York Times

May 5

“The propensity toward quoting at great length reveals Malcolm’s patience and unnervingly focused attention, but the second tendency—that habit of alluding to everything from poststructuralist texts to minor Henry James novels to Italian operas—demonstrates an even more impressive skill. Somehow, against all odds, Malcolm’s erudition is not alienating. Reading even the most cerebral of her sentences, you feel smart by association rather than dumb by comparison. No doubt this indirect flattery comes into play when she interviews someone, too. A person who is made to feel stupid is probably unlikely to tell you much.” from “I Read Everything Everything Janet Malcolm Ever Published,” in Slate

May 1

David Bowie in an ad for America’s Libraries.

Because all the cool kids read books.

via

Apr 30

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s personal financial ledger is now available online, including categories such as “Money Earned by Writing since Leaving the Army” and “Zelda’s Earnings.”

Among the revelations: Fitzgerald was a terrible speller, he was equally bad at arithmetic, and he earned less than $2000 for the original publication of Gatsby.

(via)

“Writing is hard for every last one of us… . Coal mining is harder. Do you think miners stand around all day talking about how hard it is to mine for coal? They do not. They simply dig.” -Cheryl Strayed

Apr 26

From Fay Weldon’s Down Among the Women

Apr 25

The Greatest Literary Lyric in the History of Musical Theater

I dreamed of writing like the high and mighty.
Now I’m the subject of a bidding war.
I met my personal Aphrodite.
I’m doing things I never dreamed of before.

We start to take the next step together.
Found an apartment on Seventy-Third.
The Atlantic Monthly’s printing my first chapter —
Two thousand bucks without rewriting one word.

I left Columbia and I don’t regret it.
I wrote a book and Sonny Mehta read it.
My heart’s been stolen.
My ego’s swollen.
I just keep rollin’ along.

From “Moving Too Fast” in Jason Robert Brown’s “The Last Five Years”

Listen here.

Apr 22

explore-blog:

Vladimir Nabokov’s United States immigration ID, from the fascinating story of how he became an American.

Apr 21

Some of the most beautiful pieces on nature I’ve ever read.

openroadmedia:

We’re celebrating Rachel Carson and other incredible nature writers for Earth Day with these 7 amazing ebooks on the environment.

Apr 17

“When things get tough, this is what you should do: Make good art. I’m serious. Husband runs off with a politician—make good art. Leg crushed and then eaten by a mutated boa constrictor—make good art. IRS on your trail—make good art. Cat exploded—make good art. Someone on the Internet thinks what you’re doing is stupid or evil or it’s all been done before—make good art.” Neil Gaiman’s 2012 commencement address to Philadelphia’s University of the Arts

Iris Blasi

Marketing Manager at Open Road Integrated Media. I like books and the people who read them.

The Greatest Literary Lyric in the History of Musical Theater