The Life of Eileen Myles
September 30, 2015
Now in her mid-60s, Eileen Myles has published 20-something books. This week, the writer and poet is bringing out two more via Ecco Press.
Clancy Martin on Love and Lying
September 17, 2015
Bad Sex, the second novel from Clancy Martin out earlier this week via Tyrant Books, is about an alcoholic writer named Bret.
Hal Hartley’s April Fools
April 2, 2015
In Ned Rifle, as in all of writer-director Hal Hartley’s movies, a familiar genre is subverted to form a stylized mirror of itself.
Bryan Ferry’s Live Act
November 17, 2014
Bryan Ferry is getting over a cold. Days after he had to cancel a show in Boston he’s sipping a small water bottle in his room high up the Mandarin Oriental Hotel overlooking Columbus Circle.
Porochista Khakpour’s Flight Risks
May 13, 2014
We’re sitting in Harlem Shake, a newish burger restaurant near Marcus Garvey Park with Sam Cooke playing over the speakers, and Porochista Khakpour has purple hair.
Chad Harbach’s Three-Letter Words
February 24, 2014
Chad Harbach, an accomplished author in his own right, is the editor of the collection of essays MFA vs. NYC, which sets out to come to some kind of consensus about the divide between the two spheres of contemporary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
Olivia Laing Unbottles the American Writer
December 27, 2013
Olivia Laing’s The Trip to Echo Spring is an exploration of alcoholism in six 20th-century American writers—John Cheever, Raymond Carver, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Berryman, and Tennessee Williams—that dazzles in both the scope of its ambition and the depths it reaches in analyzing its subjects.
Sleigh Bells Are In On It
November 19, 2013
Over the phone, Sleigh Bells’ Derek Miller is quick to laugh and has an obsession with choosing the exact right word. You get the sense that his mind moves much faster than his mouth; that he needs a second to catch up to himself to get his thoughts just right.
Laura van den Berg’s Continental Drift
November 6, 2013
Laura van den Berg, a blonde woman whose extreme friendliness might seem like a ploy if she weren’t so damn charming, has written a collection filled with mystery, disappearing husbands and fathers, and occasional violence.
John Freeman’s Personal Library
October 8, 2013
How to Read a Novelist, John Freeman’s second book, is a collection of his interviews over the years with some of the leading lights of this library. Names like Toni Morrison, NgÅ©gÄ© wa Thiong’o, and John Updike fill the pages.
Washed Out, Vividly
September 19, 2013
Washed Out is the stage name of Ernest Greene, a Georgia musician plucked from his bedroom four years ago to play a CMJ showcase that doubled as his first-ever show.
David Gordon’s First Draft
August 1, 2013
David Gordon’s Mystery Girl is not an easy novel to follow. You’re not sure what’s coming next, but you know you’re in for a heck of a ride.
How Sebastián Silva Found Compassion
July 11, 2013
What does a director do while waiting for studio funding for his first major American movie to arrive? If that director is Sebastián Silva, he makes an autobiographical, improvised movie starring two of the actors that are slated to work with him on the studio feature.
Discovery: Israel Broussard
June 13, 2013
While it might be too early to call The Bling Ring a breakout performance for actor Israel Broussard, it has all the trappings of a success.
The Giving Tree
June 12, 2013
Rebecca Solnit’s The Faraway Nearby is a memoir, but not in the traditional sense.
Some Men Are Islands
June 10, 2013
The Lonely Island burst into the national consciousness on the back of their iconic SNL digital short “Lazy Sunday,” a song about going to see a movie—including snack combinations, film choice, and which mapping software to use.
Casting Call: Life
May 31, 2013
Anton Corbijn is returning to biopics. The photographer and filmmaker signed on to direct Life, a film that explores relationship between LIFE Magazine photographer Dennis Stock and his most famous subject—James Dean.
Trailer Face-Off: Don Jon vs. The East
May 30, 2013
This week: Don Jon vs. The East, two very different movies written by actors about obsession and fantasy.
Trailer Face-Off: Gravity vs. Prince Avalanche
May 23, 2013
This week: Gravity vs. Prince Avalanche, two very different movies about people working in isolation.
Trailer Face-Off: Filth vs. R.I.P.D.
May 15, 2013
This week: Filth vs. R.I.P.D., two films about rather unusual police officers.