LINKS
* The Village Voice discusses art of the African diaspora:
Africa, however, is a different matter. Its art continues to remain resistant to assimilation, and if Okwui Enwezor and Robert Storr's extended, impassioned debate in recent issues of Artforum is any indication, the question of how to even begin representing African artists is still subject to serious dispute. Into this confusion intelligently steps "Flow," assembled by the Studio Museum in Harlem's associate curator, Christine Y. Kim. The exhibition presents the work of 20 artists under the age of 40 who were either born in Africa or whose parents emigrated. Only a few of the artists in the show currently live in Africa full-time. Yet whatever their present location (most reside in the United States or Europe), each is immersed in a diasporic African artistic tradition whose contribution to world culture has been immeasurable.
* It's nice to see Critical Mass posting Scott McLemee's picks for the "Good Reads." Unsurprisingly, these sound a lot more interesting than the books that made the list.
* Open Letters Monthly has a modest proposal for Dmitri Nabokov (which sounds much better than pretending to get permission from Vladimir's ghost):
But wait, Dmitri Vladimirovich – before you dash our hopes for Laura by publishing her, consider a proposal that would both adhere to the letter of your father’s request, and give his readers a taste of the last moments of his creativity. My solution, I believe, allows for both, throwing in a bit of healthy rebellion to boot. I say . . .
* There's a new issue of CONTEXT available, which, as usual, looks to be full of good stuff
* A good time-killer. You type in an author's name and it maps who readers of said author are likely to have read.
* The Believer has announced its shortlist for The 2007 Believer Book Awards. We've review three of the titles: Remainder by Tom McCarthy, The Power of Flies by Lydie Salvayre, and The Meat and Spirit Plan by Selah Saterstrom.
* The head of Random House is stepping down after the publisher's failure to meet profit expectations
* Rain Taxi runs down three books centering around the Mayan prophecy that the current world will end (giving birth to a new one) in 2012
* Chad and Garth both have wonderful things to say about PEN's tribute to Robert Walser. We've reviewed Walser's latest novel to be translated, The Assistant. And, if your interest in Walser runs this deep, you can read our essay on Enrique Vila-Matas, who holds Walser as a key influence.
* Daniil Kharms, who received a good deal of attention in U.S. book reviews not too long ago, is discussed in the LRB
* The shortlist for the so-called African Booker has been released
* The Village Voice reviews Christopher Barzak's new book. If you're unfamiliar with the name, see The Mumpsimus's tribute to the author.
* A fine meme:
pick a work of literature or philosophy (or poetry, if you can make it work) and a sentence from that work that, if the sentence had been excluded from the work, would have made the greatest difference in the work's interpretation/reception/history in the following years.
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