12 Things We Learned From Chuck Palahniuk’s AMA

By Emily Temple

As you may have heard, Chuck Palahniuk has some forthcoming novels lined up, and to ramp up anticipation for these (as well as appease his hordes of fans) he hosted an AMA (Ask Me Anything) over at Reddit last night. We waded through the cheeky banter, multiple counts of Internet failure, and sometimes sexually aggressive commenters to bring you the most interesting tidbits we gleaned from the session.

1. He’s not as hardcore as he wants the world at large to think. “A secret truth? Those [Jack Daniels] bottles on that tour… they were filled with Lipton’s tea. I wanted a sight gag that would look cool.”

2. He does research for his books with the (stoned) professionals. “Not to lose anybody his job… but some very stoned guys came from Stanley Steamer and taught me the blood-cleaning stuff. And this was ten years before Sunshine Cleaning.

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10 of the Most Gloriously Frustrating Endings in Literature

By Tom Hawking

There’s been an interesting back-and-forth happening in the books section of the Guardian‘s website this week, catalysed by the publication of a kinda vapid blog post about how “narratives that finish without resolving their plots… are unending torture for readers.” If that premise annoys you, you’re not the only one, and sure enough, yesterday the paper published another post rebutting the initial argument. At Flavorpill, we tend to fall into the camp who love a good ambiguous ending, so here are a few of our favorites, endings we’ve found either thrilling, maddening or just thought-provoking.

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Listen to a Rare Recording of Samuel Beckett Reading from ‘Watt’

By Tom Hawking

It’s always interesting listening to an author reading from their own work. There are plenty of authors who’ve been perfectly willing to do so, but others are or were more reticent to do so. George Orwell was perhaps the most famous example, but Samuel Beckett was another — or, at least, he refused to be recorded doing so — which is why we were fascinated to see that Dangerous Minds have apparently unearthed a video of the late playwright and author reading a passage from his second novel Watt.

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20 Famous Authors’ Adorable School Photos

By Emily Temple

It’s back to school season, which means new books, new classes and yes, new photos, yearbook and otherwise. But don’t worry — your favorite authors had to go through it too. To celebrate the new season of scholarship, we’ve collected a few pictures of some of our favorite authors’ school photos, ranging from proud snapshots of the first day of kindergarten to writers-to-be goofing off behind a desk to posed high school graduation photos. Check out our collection, find out which author was voted class clown, and ruminate on what your own education might lead to after the jump.

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10 Sexy ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ Alternatives from Amy Sohn

  By Michelle Rafferty

Fifty Shades fatigue has been creeping up on us the past few weeks, so we decided to ask Amy Sohn, former sex columnist and New York Times bestselling author of Prospect Park West and this month’s equally delectable sequel Motherland for help coming up with some worthy alternatives. “If Fifty Shades has taught us anything it’s that American women are starved for hot lit,” she told us.

We asked Sohn, who we have come to appreciate over the years for her unapologetic depiction of intimacy (or lack thereof) from the female POV, what she believes constitutes a “good” sex scene in lit. “I like scenes that don’t begin at the beginning and end at the traditional end: the man’s orgasm,” she told us. “I prefer scenes that begin in the middle, or skip around like a record or end with the female orgasm. Maybe the woman comes and we don’t get to hear the rest of it.” So, how do you write “good” sex? She offered up this tip: “Sex in fiction should never read like the scene between Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis in Top Gun, for a thousand different reasons. There is no blue light in real sex unless you live across from a neon sign, like the character in Fame.” So, dear readers, if you’re looking for some real, un-tinted sex, click through Sohn’s recommendations, and see what lies behind the seemingly perfect exteriors of Brooklyn’s most prized parenting demographic once more in Motherland (which, full disclosure, we weren’t able to put down).

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A Brief Survey of Unlikely Literary Friendships

Mark Twain and Helen Keller

By Emily Temple.

It’s a well known fact that, like any contemporaries in a wide artistic field, authors like to hang out together. It makes sense — who else could a writer gripe to, swap critiques with, and steal ideas from? But sometimes we’re a little surprised as to the pairs that pop up in literary history — whether because of huge age differences, disparate personalities, or just issues of accessibility.

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10 of the Strangest Apocalypses in Literature

By Emily Temple

Nuclear war, zombies, alien attack, impact event. These are what we think about when we think about literary apocalypses (or any fictional apocalypses, for that matter). But don’t get too comfortable, folks: there are many more — and many stranger — ways that our planet could be destroyed. Case in point: Karen Thompson Walker’s debut novel The Age of Miracleshits shelves tomorrow, and while the book itself will probably do more to advance society than destroy it, the story is one of the most inventive and unusual ideas for the end of the world that we’ve ever read. Inspired, we’ve collected a few more of the strangest catalysts for apocalypses in literature — click through to check them out, and do let us know if we’ve missed your favorite in the comments.

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25 Awesome Minimalist Book Covers

By Emily Temple.

Here at Flavorpill, we’re pretty much suckers for any kind of minimalist design — minimalist representations of your favorite children’s stories, minimalist posters for iconic TV shows, or minimalist memes. So when Abe Books created a gallery of modern minimalist book covers they liked, we were inspired to put together one of our own. There’s something so satisfying about the minimalist style — modern design is often hectic and showy, and while that can be beautiful, we tend to agree with Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, who said “A designer knows that he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

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10 Books That Should Be Challenged Instead of ’50 Shades of Grey’

 By Tom Hawking

Every year, we hear about the hugely depressing spectacle of books being challenged and removed from American libraries and schools because someone out there objects to their content (usually on the grounds of depictions of people enjoying themselves in bed.) This week it was hugely successful erotic novel 50 Shades of Grey, which has been removed from the shelves of libraries in parts of Florida for its depictions of, y’know, people having sex. Absurd as the whole situation is, it did get us thinking about some books that are far more deserving of being removed from library shelves than EL James’s sexual exploits. Obligatory disclaimer: we’re of course not in the market for banning any books, but we’d much prefer to find the kiddies reading 50 Shades of Grey than any of this lot.

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Books to Give Every Kind of Mom on Mother’s Day

  By Emily Temple

Mother’s Day is this Sunday, and everyone should be thinking of ways to make the lady that gave birth to them smile. We’ve already given you a heads up on some last-minute Mother’s Day gifts that don’t suck, but if what your Mommy dearest really craves is a good book, well, we’ve got you covered there as well. We’ve limited ourselves to recommending books that have come out since last Mother’s Day (since we’re sure last year you picked the perfect book), so click through to see our picks of what books to give every kind of mom this weekend. And we know, we know — your mom probably fits into a number of these categories. Looks like you’ll just have to pick her up a whole pile of books, then. She’s worth it.

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