"
This Halloween, give somebody a scary book, to read. That's it. That's the idea. It's going to be a tradition." It's
an idea Neil Gaiman came up a year ago. It's called
All Hallow's Read, with a website and everything, which has
book recommendations of all sorts, plus
stickers, bookmarks, cards, and a small story you can print off, as well as
a poster contest for next year's event.
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Oct 31, 2011 -
22 comments
Larry Gonick is a veteran American cartoonist best known for his delightful comic-book guides to science and history, many of which have previews online. Chief among them is his long-running
Cartoon History of the Universe (later
The Cartoon History of the Modern World), a sprawling multi-volume opus documenting everything from the Big Bang to the Bush administration. Published over the course of three decades, it takes a truly global view -- its time-traveling Professor thoroughly explores not only familiar topics like Rome and World War II but the oft-neglected stories of Asia and Africa, blending caricature and myth with careful scholarship (cited by
fun illustrated bibliographies) and tackling even the most obscure events
with intelligence and wit. This savvy satire carried over to Gonick's
Zinn-by-way-of-
Pogo chronicle
The Cartoon History of the United States, along with a bevy of
Cartoon Guides to other topics, including
Genetics, Computer Science, Chemistry, Physics, Statistics, The Environment, and (yes!)
Sex. Gonick has also maintained a few sideprojects, such as
a webcomic look at Chinese invention,
assorted math comics (
previously), the
Muse magazine mainstay
Kokopelli & Co. (featuring the shenanigans of his
"New Muses"), and
more. See also
these lengthy interview snippets, linked
previously. Want more? Amazon links to the complete oeuvre inside!
[more inside]
posted by Rhaomi
on Jun 6, 2011 -
29 comments
Nearly three decades ago, folklorist
Alvin Schwartz published
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, the first of three horror anthologies that would go on to become
the single most challenged book series of the 1990s. But most of the
backlash was against not the stories themselves (which were fairly tame), but rather the illustrations of artist
Stephen Gammell. His bizarre, grotesque, nightmarish black-and-white inkscapes suffused every page with an eerie, unsettling menace. Sadly, the series has since been
re-issued with
new illustrations by Brett Helquist, of
A Series of Unfortunate Events fame. Luckily for fans of Gammell's dark vision, copies of the old artwork abound online, including in these three image galleries:
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones. Interested in revisiting the stories themselves? Then don't miss
the virtual re-enactments of YouTube user MoonRaven09, or
the dramatic readings of fellow YouTuber daMeatHook.
posted by Rhaomi
on Oct 29, 2010 -
48 comments
The Book Pirates of Peru. A slideshow in which Peruvian author Daniel Alarcón describes the vibrant literary scene in his home country, where the informal publishing industry is the same size as its legitimate counterpart. There's no library system to speak of, the National Library's acquisitions budget is nil, but a culture of reading and writing is booming, with book sales and attendance at literary festivals up, up, up.
posted by WPW
on Jan 18, 2010 -
16 comments
Let boys make their own kites and bows and arrows; they will find a double pleasure in them, and value them accordingly, to say nothing of the education involved in the successful construction of their home-made playthings. -- The American Boy's Handy Book
In the late 19th- and early 20th-century, the Beard family—Daniel Carter, Lina, and Adelia Belle—wrote a number of books on outdoor activities, woodcraft, and other recreational activities for boys and girls. Many of these books are in the public domain now:
(
The American Boy's Handy Book,
The Field and Forest Handy Book,
The Outdoor Handy Book,
The Jack of All Trades,
The American Girl's Handy Book,
On the Trail: An Outdoor Book for Girls). Others, such as
Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties and
Boat-Building and Boating, are excerpted online.
Some highlights include
throwing tomahawks,
making candy, and
building tree houses,
sleds,
catapults, and
rafts.
[more inside]
posted by Upton O'Good
on Oct 29, 2008 -
40 comments
Book Scavenging. Hundreds of homeless people eke out a living scavenging books from dumpsters and sidewalk trash in Manhattan.
Sidewalk is a book about the subculture of sidewalk book scavengers and vendors.
posted by stbalbach
on Jan 20, 2008 -
52 comments
It's a
sad old story but the reading of literature continues to decline.
Prospero's Books - a Kansas-city used bookstore - is so desperate to thin out its collection it has started to burn books. Co-owner Tom Wayne says he is unable to sell many of his
thousands of books, or even to give them away to libraries and thrift stores, so he started a pyre in protest.
posted by stbalbach
on May 29, 2007 -
66 comments
"To dream of eating pancakes, denotes that you will have excellent success in all enterprises undertaken at this time." "To dream of lard, signifies a rise in fortune will soon gratify you." "Dairy is a good dream both to the married and unmarried." "To dream of seeing your thigh smooth and white, denotes unusual good luck and pleasure." "To dream of noodles, denotes an abnormal appetite and desires. There is little good in this dream." "To dream of seeing a marmot, denotes that sly enemies are approaching you in the shape of fair women." --
What's in a Dream?
A Scientific and Practical Interpretation of Dreams by Gustavus Hindman Miller, published in 1901.
posted by Gator
on Mar 11, 2006 -
24 comments
At least one commander told him, "Follow the soldiers' instructions, because they'll put their lives at risk to save you." But no one tried to censor his drawings or discourage him from going out on missions. -- Steve Mumford is a New York painter who was embedded as a "combat artist" in Iraq. The archives of his
Baghdad Journal make for fascinating reading. He has recently published a large
book of the art he created on this voyage.
posted by Gator
on Dec 18, 2005 -
9 comments
The Digested Read at The Guardian reduces popular books to 400 words and a conclusion. Recent notables include
Belle du Jour ("Sometimes I lie about my age to clients. Sometimes I even lie to my friends. I guess you must be wondering whether I'm lying now.") Crichton's
State of Fear ("Author's note: I'm very, very clever and have read a lot and you're all stupid wishy-washy liberals.") and Tom Wolfe's
I am Charlotte Simmons ("At least it covered her breasts, whatever they were. Charlotte knew men might want to touch them, but she didn't know why as she had never read Cosmopolitan.") Possibly NSFW if you have an employer with no sense of humor. On preview: Individual Digested Reads have been linked in previous discussions on
Henry James and
Camille Paglia.
posted by KirkJobSluder
on Jan 17, 2005 -
9 comments
Devil Worship: The Sacred Books and Traditions of the Yezidiz , by Isya Joseph, 1919. 'This is one of the only public domain sources of information on the religious beliefs of the Yezidi, a small group originally from the northern region of Iraq. Although they speak Kurdish, they are a distinct population from the Kurds. The Yezidi are notable because they have been described as devil-worshippers, which has naturally led to constant persecution by the dominant Islamic culture of the region ... They have many unique beliefs, such as that the first Yezidi were created by Adam by parthenogenesis separately from Eve ... ' New on
sacred-texts.com.
posted by plep
on Sep 17, 2004 -
4 comments
