April 27, 2006
Around the web #12
A brief roundup of stories, reviews, and blog entries that have caught my eye since the last "Around the web" post:
- Jane Jacobs, whose book The Death and Life of Great American Cities remains as important to me now as it was when I first read it, ten or so years ago, died this week, aged 89. The New York Times published a very thorough appreciation/obituary in yesterday's paper; the New Yorker has made available online a "Talk of the Town" piece about her from 2004; the Virginia Quarterly Review has made available an essay she contributed to their Spring 2004 issue; and Gothamist rounds up a few more notices.
- An interview with Rem Koolhaas in the German paper Der Spiegel, titled "Evil Can also Be Beautiful," in which the architect discusses his plan to enter politics as a socialist and a 1974 film script he wrote for Russ Meyer.
- On the occasion of the publication of Andy Warhol Screen Tests: The Films of Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonné, by Allie Angell, Anthony Haden-Guest writes about the "original King of Pop" (to use a colleague's phrase) for The Guardian.
- A gallery of poster designs by Josef Müller-Brockmann.
- More from The Guardian: Robert Hughes on Goya's last works, happily crotchety Jonathan Jones on Marc Quinn's portrait of Kate Moss, and Adrian Searle on the 4th Berlin Biennale and on Yang Fudong.
- The newly expanded Poetry Foundation website has a feature article on Polish poet and critic Adam Zagajewski, whose book of essays titled A Defense of Ardor possesses one of my favorite recent book jacket designs.
- NEWSgrist features an interview with artist and activist Paul Chan about "My own private Alexandria (v.1)," a collection of audio recordings of influential texts, available for free download at his website, www.nationalphilistine.com.
- This year's Reading the World website is now online, featuring books in translation from ten different publishers. Look for a special display at independent bookstores next month.
- Lastly, Dan Green has posted an appreciation of the fiction reviews published in the Financial Times by Jonathan Derbyshire, who just announced on his own blog that they are no longer behind a pay-for-access wall at the paper's site. I've only read two so far, but I also like what I see.