Posted by on Jul 27, 2012 in Eight-Tracks | 0 comments

Side B editors and columnists recommend some of their favorite things for readers this weekend:

Literature 
Until I read this piece on Ann Beattie, I’d never heard of her.  Which feels criminal now that I’m several stories deep in here collection Park City.  I had a writing professor in college who would recommend books based not upon her personal taste, but on what she thought your writing might benefit from experiencing.  I was often too flowery in my prose, with each sentence a many-headed monster of mis-matched clauses that were nearly impossible to reconcile.  Park City feels a lot like a gift from this professor, as Beattie’s prose is just enough of everything. I feel like I know each one of her characters so well, and she gives away only a few identifying details that make this full knowledge possible.  It’s not the number of facts, but how what you include is arranged, which is the best reminder to have when you feel a story getting away from you.  If you already know and love her, take a look at her Art of Fiction interview.  - Emily

You should probably be reading Plainsong by Kent Haruf.  That’s probably all I need to be saying about it.  I had this book lent to me by my boyfriend’s father, because what I really need in this life is to solicit unread material from other people while I have shelves of unread books at home waiting for the chance to be picked.  But, alas, I couldn’t help myself.  I’m not sure I would have picked this one out by myself.  It seemed mainstream, predictable, not-Faulkner.  But I wasn’t able to stop reading it.  I sacrificed large amounts of sleep knowing I would work fourteen hours the next day.  It’s beautiful and subtle.  The understated “plain”-ness of this book is truly capturing.  You will feel like you know this small Colorado town—right down to the mapping out of the streets.  You could know these people, go to the bar with them, stop at the gas station for a snack with them, watch their various troubles unfold and not realize until halfway through that your heart is breaking for them.  While this book is simple and elegant, it’s anything but boring–and it’s sure worth eschew whatever is still on your shelves waiting its turn. -Laura

Online Musings 

One of my favorite recent online discoveries is Adam Szymkowicz’s blog for playwrights. He has inverviews with over 475 playwrights stored on the site, featuring those you might have heard of (Lin-Manuel Miranda, Stephen Karam, Sarah Ruhl, Annie Baker) and plenty of those you probably haven’t, all of whom are working on their own masterpieces. They talk about processes, backgrounds, inspirations, and frustrations, and each interveiw contains pearls of wisdom that are certainly applicable to all writers, for the stage or otherwise. - James

If my column hasn’t been a  hint, lately I’ve enjoyed reading letters. I picked up Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg’s The Letters on sale a few weeks ago, and I’ve been reading famous letters (nearly always to or from authors) online as well. This letter from editor Ursula Nordstrom to Maurice Sendak is particularly beautiful and made all more relevant by Sendak’s recent passing. A favorite line: “Well feeling (emotion) combined with an artist’s discipline is the rarest thing in the world.” - Becca

Film

Bob Dylan once admonished, “writers, and critics, who prophesize with your pen” against the profiteering of ignorance. Somehow this category curiously left out those who do the actual profiting; bankers. This can be forgiven, since Dylan wrote during the zenith of American industry and mobility. Except times have changed. The recession, and its painful endurance, has brought world eyes upon the ethereal global village of investment banking. While we all know the effects of the 2008 financial crisis, I think it’s important for everyone to understand what lead to the spiral. My recommendation is the chilled thriller Margin Call. Based upon the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, the film follows a nameless investment firm that sparks the subprime mortgage crisis. The result is both frightening and informative. - Stefan