If you're in Tallinn, please stop by Slothrop's on Müürivahe 19.  You'll find a large selection of secondhand books in English - literature, history, art, politics, essays, criticism -- the works.  Slothrop's is open Tuesday through Saturday from 12 to 18, Eastern European Time.  Soon we'll hopefully have a (carefully-curated) selection of independent publications and analogue musics for your shopping enjoyment.

Triple Canopy is opening the new space at 155 Freeman in Greenpoint, and is celebrating in the most insane way possible - by scheduling a marathon public reading of Gertrude Stein's The Making of Americans.  

I can't make it over, of course, but my own copy has been sitting unread for years on my shelf, as I tote it around from move to move .... so I will be starting it myself, in parallel, and if anyone in Tallinn wants to meet up and do a shadow-reading this weekend, give me a call.

More information on the Triple Canopy announcement page!
 

I?d never say that J.G. Ballard was one of my favorite writers and I don?t think you could get me to defend his prose style under any circumstances.  But his influence on art, literature and film (which have in turn influenced me) is incalculable.  There?s been a deluge of tributes, blog posts, and other articles since his passing last week and I don?t really have anything to share myself to really justify this post.  But in grad school, through the provocations of his detractors I found myself finally connecting with his ideas.