Category Archives: Arts and entertainment

26 April, 2009

The Postman Joins Gatsby

Check out Norman Mailer’s ten favourite American novels.

Posted by Amit Varma in Arts and entertainment at 9:19 PM

18 March, 2009

Writers who never “shed their leaves”

Dick Cavett talks to Cheever & Updike - Oct 14, 1981. (Earlier post.)

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 11:39 AM

04 March, 2009

Bibliomania

Orhan Pamuk on his ”Turkish Library” and “buying books, as if to take revenge on the life I was fleeing.”

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 3:28 AM

16 February, 2009

Hamlet, the Facebook edition

"The king poked the queen. The queen poked the king back. Hamlet and the queen are no longer friends.” (HT: Gautam John)

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 7:49 PM

12 February, 2009

Twitter Of The Shrew

Shakespeare’s on Twitter now. Oof. (HT: Sanjeev.)

Posted by Amit Varma in Arts and entertainment at 6:52 PM

02 February, 2009

The Cupertino effect

“I apologize for any incontinence” and other spell-checking horrors!

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 12:43 AM

zyzzyva, sussurous, chiaroscuro, etc.

The 100 most beautiful words in the English language.

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 12:38 AM

01 February, 2009

A Conversation..

..about the craft of fiction and the art of writing (Oct 2008). RIP, Updike.

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 7:56 PM

31 January, 2009

‘Clasping And Unclasping’

Ian McEwan delivers a lovely tribute to John Updike.

Posted by Amit Varma in Arts and entertainment at 1:09 PM

01 December, 2008

Garden and Cosmos

The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 2:21 AM

25 November, 2008

Guess that mimed album cover

Play the game; Beware: Man in leotard posing! - via Mefi.

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 2:11 AM

24 November, 2008

Literary Tastings

Perhaps now we know why Monica got Leaves of Grass from her paramour. (My pick - Walden)

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment | The good life at 5:02 AM

28 September, 2008

Vanity Fair

Covers, Portraits & an article by Hitchens.

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment | The visual arts at 12:49 PM

27 September, 2008

Literary Oddities

A Mefi post with links to “Unusual books. Unusual art made from books. Unusual bookcover. Unusual bookshelves. Unusual bookstore.”

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment | Oddball | The visual arts at 11:32 AM

21 September, 2008

Collecting colours over a cup of coffee

p.i.g.m.e.n.t.i.u.m - a painting a day

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment | Blogs at 6:37 AM

14 August, 2008

Put all those books to good use

Create a book pile.

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 8:40 AM

11 August, 2008

The Literary Olympics

Have a go. I scored 10.8. 

Posted by Amit Varma in Arts and entertainment at 8:10 PM

30 July, 2008

Welcome! You are on The Ledge.

A gateway into “international literature”.

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 6:35 PM

25 June, 2008

Name’s Bond. James Bond.

He’s back in the Ian Fleming “centenary novel”:  Devil May Care

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 10:10 PM

18 June, 2008

A huge democratic moment

"Have blogs been good for books?”, ponders Robert McCrum. 

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 12:03 AM

13 June, 2008

Value their art, not their personalities

Even the most romantic poets can sometimes be awfully hard of heart.

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 10:38 PM

02 June, 2008

The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs

Rolling Stone has a list. My favourite from it: No. 25.

Posted by Amit Varma in Arts and entertainment at 2:51 AM

23 May, 2008

Another list of books

This one plays on the “reader’s lingering sense of inadequacy”, opines William Grimes.

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 10:08 PM

18 May, 2008

100 Essential Jazz Albums

David Remnick presents a “guide for the uninitiated.”

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 1:10 AM

03 April, 2008

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao…

... wins the Tournament of Books.

Posted by Amit Varma in Arts and entertainment at 4:29 AM

30 March, 2008

Writing on sex

A “finite set of possibilities.”

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 7:56 PM

It’s not you, it’s your books

An Essay about Love & Literary Tastes

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 7:35 PM

29 March, 2008

From behind a screen of aural smoke

The oldest recorded human voice (followed by a fit of giggles!)

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 6:19 AM

28 March, 2008

How to write a song

Measure for Measure, a new songwriting blog over at the NY Times, promises enlightenment.

Posted by Amit Varma in Arts and entertainment | Blogs at 4:45 AM

27 March, 2008

Not so hot

.. but compared to Heaven’s Gate, Paris Hilton’s movie is ”a rank amateur.” Not her amateur movie (no links, sorry!), but her latest release.

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 3:14 AM

23 March, 2008

Last Supper(s)

Not Da Vinci’s masterpiece but some of these are funny all the same.

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 5:42 PM

22 March, 2008

The writer’s life

Maybe Theroux was not vindictive. Maybe he was being nice?

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 4:05 AM

21 March, 2008

Anatomy of a masterpiece

An exhibition of centuries old Chinese art at the Met. (Related article.)

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 7:07 AM

12 March, 2008

Ecstatic absurdity

Documentarian Errol Morris in conversation with Werner Herzog.

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 7:45 AM

19 January, 2008

This week, get to know Australia

"Mind-expanding factoids about the lesser, conquerable nations of the Earth.” - via The Onion.

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 7:41 AM

17 January, 2008

Top Shelves

Top 10 bookshops from around the world, from the Guardian. -via Prufocks page.

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 8:05 AM

01 January, 2008

More Books of the Year…

... from Chandrahas Choudhury and Sanjay Sipahimalani. and some more from Lounge.

Posted by Amit Varma in Arts and entertainment at 8:49 PM

31 December, 2007

Michiko Kakutani, William Grimes and Janet Maslin…

... pick their books of the year.

Posted by Amit Varma in Arts and entertainment at 11:56 PM

26 December, 2007

The Year-End Mega Matrix

New York magazine’s ‘oversimplified guide to the year in culture.’

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 7:17 PM

23 December, 2007

Cinematic Pearls

A good year for old-movie buffs - DVD releases from 2007

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 7:57 PM

22 December, 2007

The Ten Best Films of 2007

Here’s Roger Ebert’s list. (Via Smoke Signals.)

Posted by Amit Varma in Arts and entertainment at 3:28 AM

21 December, 2007

The best novels you’ve never read

Sixty-one critics reveal their favorite underrated book of the past 10 years.

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 8:04 PM

hi, im a wii :)

The top tech ads of 2007 include a wii ad I quite enjoyed. ;)

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 8:37 AM

18 December, 2007

“LOTR is essentially trivial”

Intelligent Life interviews Philip Pullman.

Posted by Amit Varma in Arts and entertainment at 2:29 PM

13 December, 2007

An Embuggerance

Terry Pratchett announces that he has early onset Alzheimer’s.

Posted by Amit Varma in Arts and entertainment at 8:09 PM

01 December, 2007

The History of Indian Science Fiction

Arshad Said Khan lays it out. (Via email from Gautam.)

Posted by Amit Varma in Arts and entertainment at 11:56 AM

23 November, 2007

A Map of Literature

Enter names of authors you like and find new authors you may like.

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 11:33 PM

100 Notable Books of 2007

How many have you read?

Posted by Amit Varma in Arts and entertainment at 4:38 PM

13 November, 2007

Tagore and his India

An essay by Amartya Sen from 2001.

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 5:26 AM

07 November, 2007

How to write sex scenes

Steve Almond gives us a 12-step program (link NSFW). Frankenstein’s bolts, huh?! 

Posted by Sanjeev Naik in Arts and entertainment at 1:34 PM