Dale Estey's Blog
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Dec.06.2008
. . . actually the size of a coffee table.
Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times
Visitors to the New York Public Library admire a newly made book on Michelangelo; its cover is a bas-relief of the artist’s “Madonna of the Steps.”
A day after the official declaration of a national recession,...
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Dec.03.2008
Unless - of course - they send you a rejection letter.
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN REJECTED? O, The Oprah Magazine called Other People's Love Letters "addictive," Esquire described it as "painfully entertaining." Now you can be a part of the follow-up book.Other People's Rejection...
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Dec.01.2008
It is not so much that I don't look at those innumerable 'best of year' lists - it's that I forget them by the next day. It's the same with movie and sports and sexy person lists. I don't remember who won the Best Actress Oscar or indeed the Best Movie Oscar for 2008. I don't remember who won the...
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Nov.28.2008
So publishers are paring expenses by not passing the bread at swank bistros and eateries. One publisher recommends the turkey sandwich in the cafeteria. The drinks trolley might be a thing of the past.
However, what I find most disturbing, is that no mention is even made about feeding a lunch to...
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Nov.28.2008
Never really believing that there can be bad sex, I was surprised to find that there is a "Bad Sex in Fiction Award", and that it is, indeed in its sexteenth year. The naked descriptions I'll leave to your own search of the links.
One highlight is that John Updike was given a...
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Nov.19.2008
Kafka instructed that his manuscripts and diaries and letters all be destroyed after his death. He chose the one person whom he knew would not do it (and told him he would not do it) to do the deed.
Nabokov asked that his final manuscript be destroyed. However, as I wonder as I did with Kafka, if...
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Nov.18.2008
Perhaps, in four hundred years, it will be me.
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LONDON (Reuters) - A U.S. collector will donate rare early editions of Shakespeare's plays to London's Globe Theater, which specializes in performing the bard's works.
John Wolfson has pledged his library of 450 early...
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Nov.15.2008
I find the plethora of Kafka interpretations and books is a positive thing , since I have a novel manuscript about him hunting for a publisher. But I am given pause by the format of some of those interpretations.
By the way, I'd love to see this. And I'd like to be sitting beside Kafka. We'd be...
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Nov.13.2008
Booksellers and Publishers Nervous as Holiday Season Approaches
By MOTOKO RICH
For the book industry the question for the forthcoming holiday shopping season may be whether more people are like Francisco Clough or like Jacqueline Belliveau. Both were browsing in the Barnes & Noble on Union...
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Nov.12.2008
I am still chewing through this following excerpt of an article by Adam Thirlwell. There is a lot of meat for an author like myself who writes the whole damn novel following characters to see what will happen. I ponder the more intellectual and creative revelations at the edit stage.
I do know...
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Nov.10.2008
Big Library Cuts in Philadelphia
As municipalities across the country face large gaps in their budget, Philadelphia is taking "drastic new steps" to face the "economic storm" that include closing 11 of the 54 branch libraries that comprise the Free Library of Philadelphia....
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Nov.07.2008
Oxford compiles list of top ten irritating phrases
By Charlotte Bailey
Heading the list was the expression 'at the end of the day', which was followed in second place by the phrase 'fairly unique'.
The tautological statement "I personally" made third place – an expression that BBC Radio 4...
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Nov.05.2008
I was sitting on a park bench on Main Street this afternoon.
I was taking advantage of the mild temperature (for November) while waiting for an appointment. A Black man, older than me, started to walk past. He was taking out his cell phone and was slowing down. He looked at me and said "Hello...
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Nov.01.2008
One of the greats goes.
LOUIS 'STUDS' TERKEL | 1912-2008 He was walking anthology of all things Chicago
The Pulitzer-Prize winning author, television pioneer, theatrical actor, long-time radio host, unrepentant leftie and friend of the little man, died peacefully at his home on the North...
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Oct.31.2008
A true story for All Hallows' Eve, although it did not happen on Halloween.
I was visiting the Bay of Fundy island of Grand Manan. I had booked a room in a bed and breakfast and arrived mid-evening. I went elsewhere for a meal, but did meet the owners, and noted there were a couple of others...
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About Dale
I owe my life to Hitler, though I never met the man. My father was paid to stop Hitler, so there is no conflict of interest. I was given a thunk on the back o' the head by God when I was fifteen, and within a week began to write. I haven't stopped. My first...
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