February 13, 2013
In which you, dear Black Balloon visitor, read, reread, diagram, and become thoroughly creeped out by Yoko Ogawa's Revenge: Eleven Dark Tales.
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In England, doctors are now prescribing books to patients with mental health issues. And this week, David Shields put out a book called How Literature Saved My Life. Did books really save his life — and could they save yours?
Read MoreNeed to know which George Saunders book to read next? Black Balloon has you covered. What follows is the order in which I would save his four short story collections from a burning building, though I swear to you I would gladly burn my delicate, immaculately maintained hands on each and every one of them.
Read MoreAll three of the Chilean writer Alejandro Zambra’s books in translation, including the latest, Ways of Going Home, are short enough to read in single bites. Join me as I pair each book with some choice reading spots.
Read MoreWhen Black Balloon assigned me to revisit the
genre of chick lit through the lens of modern authors, one of my editors said, “Tell her to drink a
lot of wine.” Never one to ignore editorial direction, that’s what I did. Then I invited Dorothy Parker, Gertrude Stein, and e.e. cummings to help me out with my review.
Robots are vying for our love. And don't say Belgian filmmaker Frank Theys' documentary Technocalyps and Scott Hutchins' novel A Working Theory of Love didn't warn you. You know that flutter of anticipation you feel every time you grope for your portable device? Yeah, well — let's just hope you haven't already uploaded your heart.
Read MoreIn this new series, Julia Langbein describes a book that does not exist: a book based on a recent curiosity from the real world; a book that, ideally, you will write. The first installment concerns the "accidental" razing of an 18th-century chateau by a Russian tycoon, and the novel — part Constant Gardener, part European Vacation — that it should inspire.
Read MoreWhat do the the Ramones, Snoop Lion (né Dogg) and Vanessa L. Williams have in common? Very little — but they've all recorded Christmas songs! With this in mind, I present a Spotify playlist guaranteed to warm even the hardest-core humbug's heart.
Read MoreSecretly Canadian recently released I Know What Love Isn't, Jens Lekman's most self-assured album yet. As someone with a host of social anxieties, I started wondering if he was slowly overcoming his own. Join me as I examine his most nerve-addled songs to find the corresponding phobias — and the turns of phrase that make it all okay.
What does Black Balloon love if not strange, wonderful books that upend our traditional ideas of a story? Now that it’s December, I’d love to highlight a few of the most unusual titles of 2012. Whether you favor fiction, history, or sequential art, there's something for you among these five books.
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