Articles Written By Robert Birnbaum
Robert Birnbaum is editor-at-large at Identity Theory. All the sketchy details of his life will be (re)fabricated in his memoir-in-progress, Just Talking: How to Do Things With Words. His weblog can be found here.
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Reading
Book Digest: March 17, 2008
Ex-Chicagoan, Syracuse University mentor, dog lover, and spirited writer George Saunders responds to our query regarding the state of his reading: I am just emerging from our [MFA] admissions reading...
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Reading
Book Digest: March 10, 2008
As has been my practice these last few weeks I have asked a writer I know—in this instance George Pelecanos—for some words about his reading: The best novel...
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Reading
Book Digest: March 3, 2008
Regular readers of this space will notice the continuation of my recent genius brainstorm of asking writers of my acquaintance to offer a tidbit about their current reading. Nicholson Baker—...
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Reading
Book Digest: February 25, 2008
Last week I introduced my new headline-grabbing, star-fucking, gambit—which entails begging various writers of my acquaintance to offer some literary tidbit that I may incorporate into this space. This...
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Reading
Book Digest: February 18, 2008
Recently I sent a note to Richard Russo: In an obviously crass attempt to piggyback on the name recognition and star power of others, I am going to introduce a ...
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Reading
Book Digest: February 11, 2008
The proliferation of journals unfortunately referred to as “blogs” has naturally led to a burgeoning bibliography dedicated to pointing out the coincidence of the decline of civilization and the rise...
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Reading
Book Digest: February 4, 2008
James Wood, Harvard mentor, literary critic (late of The New Republic, now of The New Yorker), and once and future novelist (The Book of God), has a new book, How...
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Reading
Book Digest: January 28, 2008
Marshall McCluhan said: “When the globe becomes a single electronic web with all its languages and culture recorded on a single tribal drum, the fixed point of view of print...
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Reading
Book Digest: January 21, 2008
The presidential campaign is not anywhere close to full throttle and already it appears to be another dreary, droning TV miniseries, characterized by bad writing and even worse acting—it’...
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Birnbaum v.
Arthur Phillips
Three novels under his belt, Arthur Phillips sits down for a chat with our man in Boston about his commitment to fiction writing and, a challenge on quite another level, finding the discipline to focus on one piece at a time.
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Reading
Book Digest: January 14, 2008
Anthony Burgess once described his ideal reader as “a lapsed Catholic and a failed musician, short-sighted, color blind, auditorially biased, who has read the books that I have read. He...
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Reading
Book Digest: January 7, 2008
This new political moment, featuring candidates who are not angry, mean-spirited hacks spewing fear and loathing (Although Mitt Romney’s “Marching Forward into the Future” speech is its own brand...