The Flyleaf
by Tom Toro
“The Flyleaf” archive.
Editor’s Note: A delightful new feature on the blog: cartoons! A regular fixture on the pages of The New Yorker, Tom Toro kicks off “The Flyleaf” with a toon to send you off on a merry weekend. We’re honored to have his work appear on FWR. Keep an eye on this space for more literate laughs.
Michael Griffith’s latest novel captures the last twenty minutes of a man’s life: Vada finishes mowing the lawn, eats cookie dough for lunch, and suffocates under the weight of his friend Wyatt’s stuffed trophy bear. It’s a joke wrapped in a pun inside a pratfall, but this book gives good pathos, too.
So you’re not at AWP right now, and you’re wondering what kind of highjinks you’re missing? I can promise you, you’re not missing anything as fun as the sessions on Full Stop’s mock AWP schedule, which I must confess looks way more exciting than the original. Here are the sessions I’d be attending at this alterna-AWP: 4 Over 400: The Gutenberg Problem. Noted grimoire authors Merlin, Gandalf, Conor MacLeod, and Albus Dumbledore discuss the potentially disastrous consequences of printing presses. Will the grimoire survive this radical new development in publishing? How should scroll hawkers best adapt to the new […]
The Onion must have some book-lovers on staff these days—because their literature-related headlines of late have been painfully funny. See their latest, “Miranda July Called Before Congress To Explain Exactly What Her Whole Thing Is.” You should really just read the whole thing, but—okay, here’s a little taste: Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) at one point attempted a drastically different style of questioning in which he clearly explained to July what his own whole thing is in hopes that she would reciprocate in a way that everyone could understand. “Perhaps we’re approaching this in the wrong way; Ms. July, when I […]
Reading the “Missed Connections” section of Craigslist is procrastination worthy of a writer: those missives from one lonely heart seeking another, fleetingly glimpsed, practically beg to be written into stories. BookRiot has done the opposite—taking well-known literary characters and writing their ads—and the results are hilarious: the roof, the roof – w4m (Thornfield Hall) I spotted you from my window as you delivered wood to the house – I swear our eyes locked briefly for a second. Did you feel it, too? Come back to the Hall on Thursday night – I’ll create a diversion so I can escape. I […]
Ever wish your problems would disappear? Jessica Gregson’s history-laced debut (released this week in the U.S. by Soho Press) follows a village of Hungarian women who “make angels” of abusive husbands. But it doesn’t end there. Yank on your rain boots and follow her into a complicated rural wasteland for a bracing read.
We’re delighted to present the following post by Nicole Aber, our FWR editorial intern. Enjoy! Last summer, I worked a few blocks away from the regal main branch of the New York Public Library near Bryant Park. During the interlude between the end of the work day and the start of a class I was taking, I’d sometimes take refuge in the humbling building, its architectural beauty and breathtaking murals never ceasing to amaze me. So when I came across the story of a young girl aiming to keep the city’s libraries open by writing comical postcards to New York […]
… to change a lightbulb? For the answer to this, undoubtedly the pinnacle of Cormac McCarthy–related jokes, visit Your Monkey Called.
Serious bookworms don’t read just on the train. They read anytime they have a minute—sometimes at their peril. The father of a certain Fiction-Writers-Review-editor-who-shall-not-be-named has been known to read the newspaper while driving. And in high school, I knew a girl who read books while walking: down the hallway AND down the sidewalk. I was never quite able to master this skill. As usual, technology has come to the rescue. Inkstone Software has added the “Walk N’ Read HUD (Heads-Up Display)” feature to their e-reader MegaReader—and it does just what it says on the box. Explains the company’s press release: […]
