SLAUGHTERHOUSE 90210

“Was it too much to want that? Was it too much to want...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 09:40:32 -0400

“Was it too much to want that? Was it too much to want him? Yes and yes. In the back of my mind, the nasty thought always lingered that I would be happier if I did not want so much.”
—Anton DiSclafani, The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls

“Ordinary father-daughter love had a charge to it that...

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 09:44:31 -0400

“Ordinary father-daughter love had a charge to it that generally was both permitted and indulged. There was just something so beautiful about the big father complementing the tiny girl. Bigness and tininess together at last—yet the bigness would never hurt the tininess! It respected it. In a world in which big always crushes tiny, you wanted to cry at the beauty of big being kind and worshipful of and humbled by tiny.”
—Meg Woliter, The Interestings

“It’s one of those unforgettable moments that happen...

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 09:56:38 -0400

“It’s one of those unforgettable moments that happen as a child, when you discover that all along the world has been betraying you.”
― Nicole Krauss, The History of Love

“In my experience, you would no more expect to find peace...

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 09:40:57 -0400

“In my experience, you would no more expect to find peace within a family than you would expect to find it in yourself.”
—Rebecca Lee, Bobcat

“Even as a boy, hardly capable of connected thought, he...

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 09:44:53 -0400

“Even as a boy, hardly capable of connected thought, he had been convinced that his speciality, the one thing he could do really well, was to inherit money.”
― P.G. Wodehouse, The Man Upstairs and Other Stories

“Everyone has two memories. The one you can tell and the...

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 10:01:15 -0400

“Everyone has two memories. The one you can tell and the one that is stuck to the underside of that, the dark, tarry smear of what happened.”
― Amy Bloom, Away

Snaps!

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 11:34:00 -0400

Hey, it’s Maris. Usually I like to keep the Slaughterhouse 90210 space solely for TV screenshots and book quotes, but I wanted to tell you about a program I’ve worked really hard on and think you’ll enjoy—NOOK’s original short content program, Snaps. Insightful and witty, Snaps is a venue for high quality short fiction and narrative nonfiction that offer fresh perspectives on the way we live now—all at a length that’s easy to enjoy in short bursts. Check out the debut line-up!

High Status Characters

I loved Brian Raftery’s oral history of the UCB when it was published in New York magazine, and in High-Status Characters he’s expanded upon his original piece about the legendary troupe to include exclusive interviews with a bunch of comic icons including Amy Poehler, Conan O’Brien, Ed Helms, Aubrey Plaza, and more. I’ve sat in the audience of the UCB theater more than a few times in the past decade, and I’ve always been amazed by the insane levels of commitment, generosity and creativity of their performers. It’s no wonder it’s become a training ground for some of today’s biggest names in comedy, and Brian shows us how it all happened.

How to Be a Playgirl

How does a young feminist hang on to her ideals while working as an editor at Playgirl magazine? With tons of wisdom and perspective, current managing editor of Mental Floss Jessanne Collins details what it’s like to try to hold onto your journalistic integrity while your cubicle mates are brainstorming cover lines for an article about sex toys. It’s a coming-of-age tale that features lots of intellectual nakedness, and also some male nudity.

Willing to Be Lucky

Mickey Rapkin has been on my mind lately because I cannot stop watching Pitch Perfect, the glorious 2012 film based on Mickey’s book about college a capella groups. Now, In two poignant personal essays, Mickey captures what it’s like to be young and poor and ambitious and in love in New York City. The first piece is titled “New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down,” but both essays capture the spirit of that LCD Soundsystem song—how the City can break your heart and bring you back to life, all in a short time.

The Insurrectionist

“Bumbling yet simultaneously endearing” is the way I’d describe the hero of Michael Dahlie’s Pen/Hemingway Award-winning novel, A Gentleman’s Guide to Graceful Living. Now, in this unforgettable short story, Dahlie introduces us to a new hero, an unsuccessful American businessman living in London who also happens to be bumbling and endearing. As William struggles to make his way at a company where some of the top brass are bona fide bullies, the story bounces between a comedy of manners and a disquieting look at how even the most passive of us can be pushed to a breaking point.

“She recognized that this is how friendships begin: one...

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 09:52:42 -0400

“She recognized that this is how friendships begin: one person reveals a moment of strangeness, and the other person decides just to listen and not exploit it.”
—Meg Wolitzer, The Interestings

“I think when you are truly stuck, when you have stood...

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 09:37:03 -0400

“I think when you are truly stuck, when you have stood still in the same spot for too long, you throw a grenade in exactly the spot you were standing in, and jump, and pray. It is the momentum of last resort.”
—Renata Adler, Speedboat

“I was always desired. But now I am valued. And that is a...

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 09:45:56 -0400

“I was always desired. But now I am valued. And that is a different thing, I find.”
—Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall

“Do not be duped by little duties. Do not be a chore man...

Fri, 31 May 2013 10:09:16 -0400

“Do not be duped by little duties. Do not be a chore man all your days.”
― Henry Miller

“She is my forever antagonist. We are one long frightening...

Thu, 30 May 2013 10:44:15 -0400

“She is my forever antagonist. We are one long frightening climax.”
― Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl

“The best way to think about reality, I had decided, was...

Wed, 29 May 2013 09:38:01 -0400

“The best way to think about reality, I had decided, was to get as far away from it as possible.”
― Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

“Sometimes I just wanted to raise my hands and stop. But...

Tue, 28 May 2013 09:48:41 -0400

“Sometimes I just wanted to raise my hands and stop. But stop what? Maybe just growing up.”
― Patti Smith, Just Kids

“From a distance, it makes perfect sense that the people and the...

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:46:33 -0400

“From a distance, it makes perfect sense that the people and the things you think will save you are the very ones that have the power to disappoint you most bitterly, but up close it can hit you as a bewildering surprise.”
—Tom Perrotta, Joe College

“He was one of those people who stared at you with a...

Thu, 23 May 2013 09:33:37 -0400

“He was one of those people who stared at you with a meaningful smile on their face, as if he was somehow intellectually and spiritually superior, when the fact was he was simply socially inept.”
—Kate Atkinson, Life After Life

“This was before voice mail, recorded phone messages you...

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:04:41 -0400

“This was before voice mail, recorded phone messages you can’t escape. Life was easier then. You just didn’t pick up the phone.”
― Joyce Carol Oates, Beasts

“Stopping was death. Stopping meant you’d given up and...

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:52:45 -0400

“Stopping was death. Stopping meant you’d given up and turned the keys of the world over to other people. The only option for a creative person was constant motion—a lifetime of busy whirligigging in a generally forward direction, until you couldn’t do it any longer.”

—Meg Wolitzer, The Interestings

“She had a peculiar way with young men, Ursula noticed,...

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:54:07 -0400

“She had a peculiar way with young men, Ursula noticed, both maternal and flirtatious at the same time (where once she had simply been flirtatious). It was rather disturbing to watch.”
—Kate Atkinson, Life After Life

What you end up remembering isn’t always the same as what...

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:00:32 -0400

What you end up remembering isn’t always the same as what you have witnessed.”
― Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending