The Digital Future of Books: Marshall McLuhan more than 40 years ago warned, “The electric technology is within the gates, and we are numb, deaf, blind and mute about its encounter with the Gutenberg technology on and through which the American way of life was formed.” Maybe McLuhan was too pessimistic. With innovations like the Kindle, digital media can help return to us our attention spans and extend what makes books great: words and their meaning. [WSJ]
How much money does a writer need?: In New York, a young writer can get by on $25,000, give or take $5,000, depending on thriftiness. A slightly older younger writer—a 30-year-old—will need another $10,000 to keep up appearances. But that’s New York. There are parts of this country where a person can live on twelve or thirteen thousand a year—figures so small they can be written out. Of course it depends. [n+1]
Things Fall apart, Chinua Achebe: At first, with these European eyes, it is a shock to be immersed into such a raw and often brutal life, where death and tragedy are real and unremarkable, where unfathomable sacrifice plays a large part in life. First published in 1958, Achebe’s wise and subtle story-telling cuts to the heart of these tribal people with humanity, warmth and humour. You begin to understand their brutal customs borne out of hardship, fear and the wrath of ancestral spirits. [Independent]
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