{"id":4728,"date":"2009-12-11T05:54:00","date_gmt":"2009-12-11T10:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/?p=4728"},"modified":"2009-12-11T05:55:12","modified_gmt":"2009-12-11T10:55:12","slug":"unrequired-reading-dec-11-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/unrequired-reading-dec-11-2009","title":{"rendered":"Unrequired Reading: Dec. 11, 2009"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s been a busy, hectic work-week, so bleary-eyed links await you, dear readers! Just click &#8220;more&#8221;!<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Good thing there&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.wsj.com\/health\/2009\/12\/08\/fighting-prostate-cancer-a-cup-of-coffee-at-a-time\/\" target=\"_blank\">coffee<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p>* * *<\/p>\n<p>Another <a href=\"http:\/\/www.themillions.com\/2009\/12\/the-millions-interview-richard-pevear-and-larissa-volokhonsky.html\" target=\"_blank\">Pevear &amp; Volokhonsky interview<\/a>! I&#8217;m so bizarrely easy to please! (I just wish more of their translations were available on the Kindle.)<\/p>\n<p>* * *<\/p>\n<p>I find it difficult to believe that Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks were once young, but <a href=\"http:\/\/www.avclub.com\/articles\/mel-brooks-and-carl-reiner,35829\/\" target=\"_blank\">this fun interview with them<\/a> includes a pic from the old days.<\/p>\n<p>* * *<\/p>\n<p>Tiger Woods: Victim of the <a href=\"http:\/\/deadspin.com\/5418575\/fame-and-fortune-on-the-razors-edge\/\" target=\"_blank\">Gillette Jinx<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p>* * *<\/p>\n<p>AIIEE! <a href=\"http:\/\/jessica-kelley.blogspot.com\/2009\/12\/cause-this-is-thriller.html\" target=\"_blank\">Italian Thriller Zombie Flash Mob<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p>* * *<\/p>\n<p>Lost landmarks of NYC: <a href=\"http:\/\/lostnewyorkcity.blogspot.com\/2009\/12\/bring-out-your-dead-2009-roundup-of.html\" target=\"_blank\">2009 wrapup<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>* * *<\/p>\n<p>Yes, I like to buy people books as holiday gifts. No, they&#8217;re not <a href=\"http:\/\/www.abebooks.com\/books\/RareBooks\/dickens-churchill-fitzgerald\/most-expensive-november09.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">this expensive<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>* * *<\/p>\n<p>Oh, look! <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lrb.co.uk\/v31\/n24\/bill-pearlman\/short-cuts\" target=\"_blank\">A short memoir on Thomas Pynchon<\/a>! (green cords and a purple shirt?)<\/p>\n<p>* * *<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thebigquestions.com\/2009\/12\/11\/postmans-nightmare\/\" target=\"_blank\">Wait a minute, Mr. Postman<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s been a busy, hectic work-week, so bleary-eyed links await you, dear readers! Just click &#8220;more&#8221;!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,32,19],"tags":[917,918,272,278,69,273],"class_list":["post-4728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-literature","category-sports","category-urban-issues","tag-carl-reiner","tag-mel-brooks","tag-pevear","tag-thomas-pynchon","tag-tiger-woods","tag-volokhonsky"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4C7K-1eg","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4669,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/unrequired-reading-nov-20-2009","url_meta":{"origin":4728,"position":0},"title":"Unrequired Reading: Nov. 20, 2009","author":"Gil","date":"November 20, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Who expected it? Another Friday dose of Unrequired Reading! Just click \"more\"! EIGHT GLASSES OF WINE A DAY?! * * * Best new NYC buildings of the decade? And you included the Hearst monstrosity? Sigh . . . * * * WSJ interview with Russian literature transators Richard Pevear and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Adventures in Gin&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Adventures in Gin","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/adventures-in-gin"},"img":{"alt_text":"bsux.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-content\/uploads\/bsux.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2293,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/catch-a-fire","url_meta":{"origin":4728,"position":1},"title":"Catch a fire","author":"Gil","date":"August 21, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't agree with all of this guy's points about the future of digital books vis a vis the success of the Kindle. I'm optimistic that the presence of the Kindle and other e-readers will help drag book publishing out of the horrifically dysfunctional returnable bookstore model that it's currently\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Big Business&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Big Business","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/big-business"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=virtualmemories-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001CBMX7Y","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1694,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/yucky-promotions","url_meta":{"origin":4728,"position":2},"title":"Yucky promotions","author":"Gil","date":"October 16, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I think Wal-Mart's \"Hot Release Tuesday\" may be the grossest name ever for a promotion, but today actually sees a couple of releases that I'm enthused about: War and Peace - A new Tolstoy translation by Pevear & Volokhonsky! This pair jump-started the wave of new translations of the Russians\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;literature&quot;","block_context":{"text":"literature","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/literature"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=virtualmemories-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0307266931","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6731,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/this-is-all-going-according-to-plan","url_meta":{"origin":4728,"position":3},"title":"This is all going according to plan","author":"Gil","date":"December 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm just getting started on my annual Another Year, In the Books\u00a0post for 2012 (and it's a doozy), and I just came across this list I posted in January 2012 of books I was hoping to read in 2012. I actually did okay on that, given how often my reading\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;literature&quot;","block_context":{"text":"literature","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/literature"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6250,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/books-ahead","url_meta":{"origin":4728,"position":4},"title":"Books ahead","author":"Gil","date":"January 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"On Friday evening, Amy was over at a neighbor's, so I spent some time downstairs in the library, looking at my books and pulling ones that I hope to read in the year ahead. I'm going to list them here so I can check back in December and see how\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;literature&quot;","block_context":{"text":"literature","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/literature"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=virtualmemories-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0743297334","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5650,"url":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/love-of-translations-translations-of-love","url_meta":{"origin":4728,"position":5},"title":"Love of Translations, Translations of Love","author":"Gil","date":"October 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I remember how thrilled I was back in college (c.1990) when Pevear & Volokhonsky's new translation of\u00a0The Brothers Karamazov came out. I still have the giant Counterpoint hardcover downstairs in my library. Unlike so many of my other college-era interests that are now alien to me -- Thomas Pynchon, fractal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;literature&quot;","block_context":{"text":"literature","link":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/category\/literature"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=virtualmemories-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0374528373","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4728"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4730,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4728\/revisions\/4730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chimeraobscura.com\/vm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}