The Intercollegiate Review presents “The Fifty Worst Books of the 20th Century.”
Add to this D.G. Myers’ list of 10 worst prize-winning American novels of all time.
All posts by Phil
Impressive Presentation Showing Sen. John Walsh’s Plagiarism
It’s remarkable when someone does the research to demonstrate extensive plagiarism from a public official or someone of high profile, but the NY Times’ presentation of how Senator John Walsh (Democrat-Montana) is elegant. Highlighted sections of this master’s thesis pull up comparison copies of their sources, so you can see how closely worded they are. A bit of explanation, like the following, is one thing: “Though a footnote indicates that this information came from a report on a State Department website, the language appeared in a post by Dean Esmay on his Dean’s World blog nearly verbatim.” Showing comparisons is step up. (via Hunter Baker)
Who Created Batman?
Today is Batman Day. The Bat-Man, as he was once called, is 75 years old today, and DC Comics wants everyone to celebrate. Ignoring rumors that one-year-old prince George is being groomed to take on the Dark Knight’s mantle (don’t call him Robin), Jim Lee talks about the future of the character with Entertainment Weekly. He mentions strong fan-boy love for Batman ’66 on Blu-ray. I guess the cheese is never too far from Gotham City.
Apparently there’s one part of Batman’s history the publishers have never quite settled: who actually created him? Today they are giving out special edition reprints Detective Comics #27 (1939), in which The Bat-Man first appears. The cover of this issue states it was “illustrated by creator Bob Kane and written by Bill Finger.” The official word from DC Entertainment is that Bill Finger was a great guy who helped write many things, but Bob Kane was the first to imagine the hero.
[Steve] Korté, a 20-year DC Comics veteran, explains the sequence of events that lead to the creation and development of Batman. “After Superman debuted in 1938 and became an instant hit, DC editor Vince Sullivan asked Bob Kane to come up with a superhero, which he did with Batman,” he adds. “During that process, he went to a friend, Bill Finger, who gave him some tips on costume adjustments. For example, Bob initially drew bat wings on Batman. Bill suggested a scalloped cape. After Batman became a hit in May, 1939, Bob brought in more people throughout the year.”
Both men are dead now, but Finger’s granddaughter is rally fans to give Bill the credit she believes he deserves.
Alton Brown, Media Mogul
At least twice on my current list of regrets is that I have not learn enough from Alton Brown. The man is the mad scientist of culinary delight. Grade school kids should have classes based on Good Eats. Here’s a recent morning interview he did that briefly mentions his many media products.
The Changing World of Publishing
Philip Yancey writes about this many years of experience in publishing.
I had an enlightening experience with e-books in 2013. In April I finished the book The Question That Never Goes Away, based on my visits to three places of great tragedy. My traditional publisher wanted at least nine months lead time to publish it, the typical schedule for a new book, yet new tragedies such as the Boston Marathon bombings, tornadoes, and school shootings were occurring almost weekly, the very situations my book addressed. So I signed on for an Amazon-exclusive program to publish an e-book for 90 days before the hard copy book came out. Leaning on my friends for email lists, I managed to sell about 3,000 copies. On September 11 and Thanksgiving weekend I offered free downloads and 40,000 people downloaded the book! The moral of the story, as many have learned: things can quickly go viral on the Internet but it’s a tough place to generate income.
‘There Are No Jobs in Academia.’
Ryan Anderson is a grad student in anthropology (not the clothing store). “I realized how bad things were when I was about half way through my PhD program—and it didn’t help that the global economy was literally crashing right when I started. You know, the whole ‘Great Recession’ thing. After one year, I nearly dropped out. Looking back, maybe that would have been the better decision. But, for some reason, I kept going…in part because of a vague hope that things would somehow ‘work out.’ I too pinned my hopes on that imagined employer.”
The bottom line, he says, is this isn’t the 1960s and there are no jobs in academia. He points to data showing about 36,000 new PhDs for every 3,000 new positions created. Is this education making 33,000 better people or just dragging them and their families down? (via Anthony Bradley)
Bullies on Mars Hill
The stories out of Seattle regarding Mars Hill Church are one of the reasons this past year has been one of my hardest. I hate this news. Many stories are coming forward through many venues.
This co-founder of the church, who left in 2007, says:
It has been written, spoke of and declared, that in order for a church to be “On Mission” that sometimes people need to be “Run over by the bus” and a large pile of bodies is a good thing. I know where this kind of thinking came from because I believed it to be true and was in full agreement. While it is true that those who desire to lead people astray (the bible calls them wolves) need to be dealt with, I believe we went way too far and responded with anger and self-righteousness’ in throwing people under the bus. I ask your forgiveness for my part in promoting and approving this kind of behavior, it was godless!
Run over by the bus? Is that a line from the Inquisition?
A long article with many stories of spiritual abuse appeared this week on Crosscut.com. It describes Driscoll’s inflammatory language, the congregation’s habit of shunning disgraced members, and narcissism from many leaders. Witnesses claim the church encourages misogyny and sermons are “relevant” at all costs.
Stacey Solie writes, “Driscoll also started to preach more about male privilege and sexual entitlement. This had a damaging impact on many marriages, said Rob Thain Smith, who, with Merle, was acting as an informal marriage counselor to many young couples.
‘He created enormous abuse of wives,’ Smith said. ‘He helped young men objectify women, by his over-emphasis of sexualization of women and subservience.'” Continue reading Bullies on Mars Hill
ThinkGeek’s Useless Box
An Illustration on Paying Attention
“(And whatever is placed in active and direct Oppugnancy to the Good is, ipso facto, positive Evil.)” Patrick Kurp ties this line by Coleridge to this line by Waugh: “Civilization has no force of its own beyond what is given it from within.”
Heresy Alert! People Prefer Instant Coffee
In a world where over half of everyone prefer tea to coffee, over half of everyone also prefer instant coffee to wonderfully fresh-roasted coffee, according to a new report by Euromonitor International. Even in Mexico where great coffee grows in the streets and children suck on sun-roasted beans between baseball games, people see instant coffee as the affordable choice for their active lifestyles.
But I don’t care. Live and let live, I say. Maybe they don’t have a few minutes to brew a cup of joy for themselves. If that’s the case, they might enjoy throwing back their insta-junk in pop-up paper mugs from Nescafé.