SHORT CUTS, A SEMI-LITERARY EDITION THIS TIME, JUST TO SHOW I'M NOT A COMPLETE SLAVE TO YOUTUBE

Paris Review has just put online an archive of short bits from their author interviews from the last 50 years, billed as "The DNA of Literature". Among my faves that are included are Jorge Luis Borges, T.C. Boyle, Haruki Murakami, and Kurt Vonnegut. There are also examples of facsimile manuscript pages featured for most of the authors.

My favorite excerpt is what poet W. H. Auden had to say about hippies:“What I do like about them is that they have tried to revive the spirit of ‘Carnival.’ But I'm afraid that when they renounce work entirely, the fun turns ugly.”

One post apocalyptic novelist reviews another: Steve Erickson on the new Cormac McCarthy novel, The Road.

Camille Paglia opines on Marie Antoinette and reminds me how she can be an insightful critic when she's not baiting people. (via Fimoculous)

And lastly, Greil Marcus on Twin Peaks (Yes, it's a TV show, but he name checks D.H. Lawrence in the essay). I think this one's included in his new book, The Shape of Things to Come, which is at the top of one of my tottering to-be-read piles.

Marcus gave our own late lamented local rock heroes The Cutters some love a while back.

OK, I admit it, I'm a pop culture addict who also likes literature. Is there a cure?