curated by the Atticus Books staff
Hell Yeah! Worthy is a weekly Friday feature where our staff distills the plethora of scat on the Internet into a succinct list of the best you haven’t seen, the best you ignored, and the best you should visit again.
Ann Patchett vs. Stephen Colbert
Anyone who leaves Stephen Colbert speechless deserves all the credit in the world, and Ann Patchett does just that with this defense of independent bookstores. Her argument that people who conduct all their interactions online (read: buy from Amazon) will wake up as the unabomber is probably the strongest and best argument I’ve heard so far. The interview dovetails nicely with our recent roundtable discussion on Amazon. (Libby)
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Ann Patchett | ||||
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Three Cheers for Tumblr (and Welcome to 2012)
Tumblrs, such as Tulpendiebe by KINO author Jürgen Fauth, are beginning to grow on me quite a bit. (I know I’m late to the party on this but cut me some slack; I slept walked through most of the last decade). There is something about the clean, crisp aesthetics of some Tumblrs that far surpass the mostly corporate-looking WordPress templates. I’m not sure how I stumbled upon Bards and Sages, but I dig the simplicity — from the seemingly endless thread of quotes from classic and contemporary literature to the stark, striking images. It just works for me. (Dan)
The $2,495 Edition of How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Bibliophiles beware! Thornwillow Press’s gorgeous, handmade books will make you reconsider whether that e-reader purchase was worth it. With locations at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City and in Washington, DC, Thornwillow celebrates the beauty of books inside and out. (Lacey)
Artistry, Anarchy, Alchemy & Authenticity
Just when I was losing faith in the hipness capacity of WordPress blogs, I ran across The Selvedge Yard. This über-joint captures a stylistic, atmospheric tone and substance that most web designers can only dream of. What’s more, their vintage photos are outstanding and far from the run-of-the-mill publicity shots that often appear on popular culture sites. (Dan)
It’s Not You, It’s Not Us
Like love, literary rejection hurts. The Missouri Review’s managing editor, Michael Nye, writes on the delicate art of rejection from the perspective of an editor delivering them and a writer receiving them. As Nye notes, the sting of rejection never ebbs but our personal approach to it can assuage some of the pain. (Lacey)
Writers All Sound the Same
Here’s great news for wannabe authors: now you don’t have to wait for publication to hear which great writers your work evokes. Just head to I Write Like and paste in your latest stuff. Oh, and if it keeps telling you that your literary kin is Cory Doctorow no matter what, you’re not alone… (Libby)
Jeff Mangum!!!
Look, you either know who Jeff Mangum is or you don’t. If you’re familiar with him, the three exclamation points are an enormous understatement, and you can thank me later for this live Mangum recording at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in January, courtesy of Songs For The Asking. If you don’t know who he is, what are you waiting for? (Lacey)