Fernando French Publishing

Gilbert Gottfried reads Fifty Shades of Grey.

Sat, 19 May 2012 15:21:18 -0700

Gilbert Gottfried reads Fifty Shades of Grey.

“Scientists” use “chemistry” to explain...

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:26:36 -0700

“Scientists” use “chemistry” to explain the used-book smell.

So that’s how books are born — with paper, glue, and...

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 15:27:14 -0700

So that’s how books are born — with paper, glue, and ink (and not what results when two books that are in love have sex).

The return of Mark Leyner

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 11:07:48 -0700

The New York Times:

There is a clip online of the Charlie Rose show from 1996, in which Rose invited three young novelists to talk about the future of American fiction… [the] panel comprised David Foster Wallace, promoting “Infinite Jest”; a young and anxious-looking Jonathan Franzen… and Leyner, the most intense, and in a certain sense, significant young prose writer in America. One of these authors ended up committing suicide. One ended up on the cover of Time. And one of them … published one more novel in 1997, then stepped away from novel-writing altogether. Now, after a not-entirely-planned 15-year-hiatus from fiction, he returns this month with a new novel, “The Sugar Frosted Nutsack.”

Insane in the Membrane

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 13:56:00 -0700

Outside:

Gore-Tex might be a cash cow for gear manufacturers, but you wouldn’t have heard a lot of gratitude by surveying last summer’s OR crowd. I asked dozens of industry veterans and designers about the unprecedented marketing attacks from Columbia and Polartec, and the first thing I noticed was the fear. Hardly anyone was willing to speak about Gore-Tex on the record.

This month’s issue of Outside contains a fantastic exposé on the performance fabric industry.

"Time will reveal everything. It is a babbler and speaks even when not asked."

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 11:00:05 -0700

“Time will reveal everything. It is a babbler and speaks even when not asked.”

- Euripedes

"This is the way the world ends Not with a bang, but a whimper."

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 19:00:05 -0700

“This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang, but a whimper.”

- T. S. Eliot

"Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future."

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 18:04:34 -0700

“Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.”

- Oscar Wilde

Flood Magazine: Actors and story aside, this flick is...

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 12:22:00 -0700

Flood Magazine:

Actors and story aside, this flick is beautiful… The woods, the trees, the grass, might as well all be listed as separate characters in the credits. The weather should have had top billing. The snow, the wind, the rain bend to Naoko’s emotions.

I’d love to see more movie adaptations of Murakami’s work, especially by American directors. 1Q84 anyone?

"Ask me why an apple falls to the Earth or why a cork floats in water or why electrons do not..."

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 13:46:15 -0700

“Ask me why an apple falls to the Earth or why a cork floats in water or why electrons do not collapse into the nucleus, and I can at least attempt an explanation. But the virtual world I live in is a mystery. Arthur C. Clarke wrote: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” For me, and for most of you, I suspect, the computer is just that: a glowing, magic box. Learning to program would help demystify the technologies I use daily and allow me to even create some humble magic of my own.”

- Annie Lowrey

Long-awaited Olive Garden Receives Warm Welcome

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 12:19:23 -0700

As I ate, I noticed the vases and planters with permanent flower displays on the ledges. There are several dining areas with arched doorways. And there is a fireplace that adds warmth to the decor… All in all, it is the largest and most beautiful restaurant now operating in Grand Forks. It attracts visitors from out of town as well as people who live here.

This wonderful review by 85-year-old Marilyn Hagerty has me yearning for simpler times.

Survey of Literature (excerpt)

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 20:28:00 -0700

Sing a song for Percy Shelley,
Drowned in pale lemon jelly,

And for precious John Keats,
Dripping blood of pickled beets.

Then there was poor Willie Blake,
He foundered on sweet cake.

God have mercy on the sinner
Who must write with no dinner,

No gravy and no grub,
No pewter and no pub,

No belly and no bowels,
Only consonants and vowels.

John Crowe Ransom

(via wwnorton)

Coming soon.

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:57:00 -0700

Coming soon.

Change: It’s Okay. Really.

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 10:17:00 -0700

Today we’ve announced that we will discontinue the 32-volume printed edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica… A momentous event? In some ways, yes; the set is, after all, nearly a quarter of a millennium old. But in a larger sense this is just another historical data point in the evolution of human knowledge.

Britannica helped us pass middle school. Wikipedia helps us pass time.

Kerouac.

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:16:56 -0700

Kerouac.

Descartes for the modern age.

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 20:03:00 -0800

Descartes for the modern age.

nickmiller: From left to right: the first draft of my...

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:57:29 -0800

nickmiller:

From left to right: the first draft of my manuscript (which took me a full year to write), the first rewrite, and the second rewrite. They got shorter each time. The fourth and final version, in book form, coming soon…

This is our next. celiarowlsonhall: I DID IT! 55 freshly...

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:57:00 -0800

This is our next.

celiarowlsonhall:

I DID IT! 55 freshly painted teeny tiny terrible cards to be shipped off to Fernando French Publishing tomorrow!

Late last summer, on the secluded tip of Conanicut Island, in...

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 10:57:23 -0800

Late last summer, on the secluded tip of Conanicut Island, in Rhode Island, an Episcopal reverend and his wife, a nurse, were watching Wes Anderson shoot his new movie, Moonrise Kingdom. (via Flood Magazine)

"I secretly hate Scrabble, for the simple reason that anyone hates Scrabble, which is that I am bad..."

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 21:22:11 -0800

“I secretly hate Scrabble, for the simple reason that anyone hates Scrabble, which is that I am bad at it, and because words aren’t a game. A single word can destroy a person’s soul, his faith in humanity, and other serious assets. No one who understands the exigencies inherent in language wants to waste words on a Scrabble board.”

- David Samuels, Underachievers Please Try Harder