RIP the most influential man you’ve never heard of
A man named Larry Tesler passed away last week at the age of 74 in Portola Valley, California. You may not know who Larry Tesler was by name, but there’s… Read more »
Book trends of the decade, decoded; Brit critic dips Into lit
The annual deluge of year-end roundups is upon us, made even worse by the inevitable conscious coupling of decade-end lists! It’s gilding the lily, to be sure! It’s piling on!… Read more »
The typewriter that kept coming back
Reportedly, Mark Twain claimed to be the first author to use the typewriter, and his entire manuscript for Life on the Mississippi was submitted to the publisher in typeface. But, despite his… Read more »
Here’s the next new gadget in your long list of unnecessary gadgets
So, is it worth shelling out the big bucks for a glorified typewriter?… Read more »
Reprogrammable Braille offers tremendous potential to blind and visually impaired readers
We have, over the years, had ample cause to ridicule a good number of faddish “book technologies,” each of which was certain to “change the nature of reading, at scale” or “revolutionize the… Read more »
A computer scientist, a Coptic scholar, and a librarian walk into the basement of the Morgan Library…
Nicholas Wade at the New York Times wrote earlier this week about a groudbreaking archival project currently underway at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City. If all… Read more »
For a biographer, the task at hand is seeing Seamus Heaney’s faxes, while they last
A new biography of Nobel Prize-winning Irish poet Seamus Heaney is in the works, and its author is scrambling to save a treasure trove of ancient documents that will reveal many secrets. I refer,… Read more »
Omaha’s newest library has abandoned the book, prefers laser cutters and 3D printing
What are libraries for? Apparently, they’re tool storage facilities where people can also be at work. At least, that seems to be the understanding of Rebecca Stavick, executive director of Omaha, Nebraska’s… Read more »
UK scientist has created the nerdiest possible edition of The Origin of Species
Traditionally, if one wanted a book, one would walk or drive or take the train to the nearest bookstore, where they would make their selection, hand over a couple bills,… Read more »
Do androids tell themselves stories in order to live?
Joan Didion famously wrote: We tell ourselves stories in order to live … We look for the sermon in the suicide, for the social or moral lesson in the murder… Read more »