Slightly over five years after I read volume one and 4231 pages later, I've finally finished the last book in Jonathan Sumption's monumental history of the Hundred Years War.

THE BARE BONES OF LITERATURE IN GENERAL (John Barth)

John Barth, author of the incredible LOST IN THE FUNHOUSE, on writing. This is wonderful. Thank you @typingvanara for sharing.

My teacher, John Barth, gave us this on the first day of our seminar. "Having identified your muse (i.e., your angle on the world and yourself in the medium), transcend the mere mastered algebra of your craft with the innate fire of your talent so that your scribblings will

Ingmar Bergman on the creative process

writers love to write about their favorite writers. Paul Auster was superb on Stephen Crane. Russell Banks loved Nelson Algren. Henri Cole on Elizabeth Bishop. Martin Amis revered Saul Bellow. John Updike, Henry Green. I once spent a glorious month--January--preparing a

goodbye, michael

I own three of these in paperback form but I had to get this Library of America edition because that damn cat is so fucking charming.

Mike Leigh on making Naked (1993): "Naked was my big international breakthrough. I'd never had a film in Cannes before – and in 1993, I won best director and David Thewlis took best actor for his extraordinary performance as Johnny. At first, though, the film was called

The dreamlike aesthetic of Boorman and Nic Roeg, who both spent the ‘60s and ‘70s making deeply strange, kinky, occult films, is one of the great marvels of cinema for me. I sometimes think it’s underdiscussed because it’s hard to even find the language for what they’re doing

Meet Orson Welles of Wisconsin, a true Renaissance man who can act, compose and recite poetry, and create art - and he’s only 10 years old! This child prodigy comes from a family of thespians, but he appears even at his young age to be the most talented of them all.

Michael Silverblatt was a great reader, a great talker, and a great champion of so many Dalkey Archive Press authors. We’ll be posting some of our favorite interviews all week. Tonight, listen to his conversation with William H. Gass about “The Tunnel”:

Another way of looking at Frederick Wiseman. Has any filmmaker of any era had more late masterpieces in a row? "National Gallery," "In Jackson Heights" (my #1 film of 2015), "Ex Libris," "City Hall," "Menus-Plaisirs — Les Troisgros." He released every one after he turned 84.

Goodnight to the legendary and beloved Frederick Wiseman. ❤️

devastating. obsessively listening to episodes of bookworm when i was a young man was my literary education. it was as important as school. silverblatt taught me what a life of devotion toward literature could look like. he clearly cared so much about what he did. goodbye michael

Michael Silverblatt's ten Bookworm's rules. I think all of them are very useful.

Years ago, while dining with Michael Silverblatt, Orhan Pamuk came up as a topic. He said, “You know, I was supposed to have dinner with him tonight.” “Why didn’t you?” I asked. “I had already made plans with you,” he said. “You’re nuts!” I yelled. Dear Michael, I will miss you.

Frederick Wiseman Dies at 96: The Documentary Legend Was One of Cinema’s Greatest Masters

Across a filmmaking career spanning more than five decades, Frederick Wiseman – who has died at 96 – refined a uniquely austere, quietly radical form of documentary cinema https://t.co/n9MKbw4FdE

Alfred Hitchcock was so impressed by THE APARTMENT, he was moved to send a letter to its director, Billy Wilder.