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In Fredericton:
September 28, 2011: Reading/Discussion
Headliner(s): Riel Nason
Featured title(s): The Town That Drowned
7:00 pm at Fredericton Public Library, 12 Carleton Street, Fredericton, NB
Come out to hear Riel read from the novel Carla Gunn (Amphibian) calls “by turns charming, humourous, and terrifying.”

Fahrenheit 451: a book that has sold millions of copies, endured for half a century and seems as relevant today as it must have during the Cold War and the era of McCarthy. A red-hot classic. Or at least, so most people say. But what do you think?
Sam Jordison/The Guardian

Escape to Hell is billed as a collection of short stories and essays, but most readers have found it lacking even the basic ingredients of plot or content. One of the most bizarre stories is called “The Astronaut’s Suicide.” It tells the story of an astronaut who returns to Earth from a long stay in space, finds he can’t adjust to normal life, and kills himself. It’s meant to be a children’s book.
Suzanne Merkelson/Foreign Policy

A rare survival, this is the programme that accompanied Entartete Kunst, the Nazi’s 1937 exhibition mocking “degenerate” avant-garde art. Targeting modern art, music, and literature was an important aspect of the Nazi campaign, and as early as 1930 museums were put under pressure to conform, with certain works taken off show and uncooperative directors removed.
Laura Massey/The Cataloguer’s Desk

“We’ve invited her since the beginning of the festival, but to no avail,” Arnold said in an interview at the festival kickoff news conference. “Last January, I was at the airport in Toronto going through customs. I was with a friend who looked back and saw Margaret Atwood. I started shaking and hyperventilating, grabbed a business card out of my wallet, went up to her, told her I was a huge fan and invited her to come.
Alan Cochrane/Times Transcript

“Do you think your mother will want to save his glasses or his false teeth? They take those out prior to cremation.” I have to be at work, behind a counter, in about an hour and a half. I will have to answer this question: “How’s it going today?” This will happen many times.

Along with some of my friends, and some people who were part of the Top 100 Canadian Singles project, several DOZEN of her friends showed up. We were getting close to a hundred in there. Pages sold all but two of the books they brought. I got hand cramp from signing.

The Top 100 Canadian Singles has had its second official launch event, this time in Vancouver. Zulu Records was the site, and how appropriate. Zulu has been active in the Vancouver music scene since the 70’s, and is the spiritual home of the indie/alternative/punk scene in that city. Its roots go deep, with such bands as Payolas, DOA, Slow, and Pointed Sticks.

The fourth-graders were unanimous: Quicksand doesn’t scare them, not one bit. If you’re a 9- or 10-year-old at the P.S. 29 elementary school in Brooklyn, N.Y., you’ve got more pressing concerns: Dragons. Monsters. Big waves at the beach that might separate a girl from her mother. Thirty years ago, quicksand might have sprung up at recess, in pools of discolored asphalt or the dusty corners of the sandbox—step in the wrong place, and you’d die. But not anymore, a boy named Zayd tells me. “I think people used to be afraid of it,” he says. His classmates nod. “It was before we were born,” explains Owen. “Maybe it will come back one day.”
Daniel Engber/Slate