Despite all of the press releases, despite all the bookstore banners, and despite the groundswell of media attention, I managed to miss Banned Books Week. Last week! Perhaps I was blinded by its ubiquity — I couldn’t see the forest for the trees (before it was pulped into paperbacks). Or maybe there is something more sinister…… Continue reading Shit, I Missed Banned Books Week
Two Buck Chuck 20th Anniversary
As the wine world raises a glass to the late Fred Franzia, the unorthodox businessman behind the Charles Shaw wine brand (a.k.a. “Two Buck Chuck”) who passed away this week, it’s high time to revisit the story of Shaw himself and one of the potential pitfalls of being a brand name. How did Shaw’s name end…… Continue reading Two Buck Chuck 20th Anniversary
RIP Godard
Under the Influencer: The Cost of ‘Free Beer’
I’m not an “influencer.” I’m not even a diminution of an influencer like a micro-influencer or nano-influencer, which apparently exists in the world of online celebrity. To that end, my minuscule celebrity is somewhere on the spectrum between noteworthy and notorious, which means I can sometimes get names in local newspapers—including my own. I mention…… Continue reading Under the Influencer: The Cost of ‘Free Beer’
Sterling Lord, Agent Provocateur
Not only was the recently passed Sterling Lord the literary agent of Jack Kerouac, he had, as New York Times writer David Margolick observed, a “perfect moniker. “What was your name before you changed it?” a friend once asked Sterling Lord. When a book he had handled came out in Portuguese, an unwitting translator rendered…… Continue reading Sterling Lord, Agent Provocateur