The Open Road Blog

Today’s featured excerpt for Banned Books Week spotlights The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy. Pat Conroy is one of America’s most acclaimed and widely read authors and the New York Times bestselling writer of ten novels and memoirs. The stirring saga of a man’s journey to free his sister—and himself—from a tragic family history, The Prince of Tides is frequently challenged for scenes of violence and derogatory language, among other reasons.

Read an excerpt from the book below.

 

Banned Books Week Collection

For those obsessed with End of the World and Possible Future for Earthlings movies/shows, this infographic will be just what you need to prepare! I came across this chart by Michael Hobson (@TremulantDesign), and am now ready for zombies, aliens, androids, talking kangaroos, and Jaws 19. You're welcome.—Lara

Meet Conan T. Barbarian, Associate Professor in Hyborian Studies and Tyrant Slaying. Some Trinity College students decided to play a little prank on their school's website by creating a faculty page for the famous Schwarzeneger character, which, naturally, has been resurrected for a Hollywood film out this year. ...

In preparation for Hurricane Irene here on the East Coast, the New York Times has put up a very helpful Tracking Map. Stay safe, everyone!—Lara

I enjoyed John Tierney's essay on decision fatigue in the New York Times, adapted from his forthcoming book Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength. Tierney states that the very act of making decisions depletes our ability to make them well and asks how to navigate a world of endless choice given this reality. Click here for his interesting read on self-regulation.

Also: "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone ...

Here, a young Scott Spencer appears alongside his father Charles on their 1958 Arizona vacation. Spencer’s parents urged him to read at an early age, and his passion for books likely contributed to his later interest in the beat subculture and literary movement.

Growing up in the South Side Spencer witnessed Chicago's racial and political turmoil up close. His parents refused to embrace the mob mentality of the McCarthy era, and Spencer, too, emerged as a cultural dissident. His early work, including Last Night at the Brain Thieves Ball (1975) and Preservation Hall (1976), centers on the highly personal themes ...

Hello, Nature. Meet iPad! Nature, outdoors, hiking, camping, and leaf-peeping (West Wing reference, anyone?). None of these words have ever come to mind when I'm using my iPad. Until now. This is a fascinating app by the researchers from Columbia University, the University of Maryland, and the Smithsonian Institute. Using the iPad camera and/or the browse feature, you can identify the leaf you're looking at, the fruits and flowers of the same tree (as well as its "bloom time"), where the tree is native to, and more! You can also pull up a map that shows you the trees ...

It's always exciting when a someone whose work you've been following for years begins a new project, especially when that new project includes new talents that speak to your interests! Such is the case with the new site Grantland. Bill Simmons (columnist for ESPN, New York Times No. 1 bestselling author, and podcaster-extrodinar) has just launched his new site this week, dedicated to the same unique blend of sports and pop culture that Simmons has been excelling at for years! With a rotation that includes authors like Chuck Klosterman and Malcom Gladwell, columnists like Dan Fierman (GQ) and Chris Jones (Esquire), and some interestingly "fresh" voices, this site ...

Editor's note: Today we continue our celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month with a new essay by David C. Dougherty on Stanley Elkin's relationship to the Jewish American literary tradition. Dougherty is the author of Shouting Down the Silence: A Biography of Stanley Elkin and professor emeritus of English at Loyola University Maryland. This essay is part of our "Critical Symposium" series, an ongoing effort to include in-depth commentary about Open Road authors on the blog. Click here to read "Top of the Bill" by Daniel Green, the first essay in the series. 

“That Ounce of the Ecumenical”

(The MacGuffin, 1991)

When Stanley Elkin exploded onto the ...

Editor's Note: May is National Short Story Month and what better way to celebrate than to read one of the masters of the genre? New York Times book critic Michiko Kakutani has praised the short story writer Susan Engberg for her "uncanny understanding of the darting, itchy paths taken by the introspective mind," and her "lyrical, meticulous prose." The novelist Russell Banks once wrote that Engberg's stories "are so good that they could change your life." In her fourth collection, Above the Houses, excerpted below, Engberg continues to demonstrate why she deserves such accolades.

Mother of Chartres

By Susan ...

Open Road continues its recognition of Jewish American Heritage Month with this classic photograph of renowned Jewish history scholar Lucy Dawidowicz. Dawidowicz was born into a secular Jewish family in 1915. In 1938 she traveled to Poland to work at a Yiddish Scientific Institute, an experience that would determine the trajectory of her life and career. Deeply troubled by the anti-Semitism she witnessed in Poland, Dawidowicz subsequently decided that she would devote her life to documenting Jewish history and ultimately the horrors of the holocaust.

Dawidowicz’s crowning achievement is The War Against the Jews, a book that tells ...

Fizz, Cartagram and Planetary are neat tools by Bloom, a company that is pairing visualization tools with elements of game design. Fizz lets you see your Facebook or Twitter feed develop via big or small bubbles, indicating people and updates, and swarming hives. Cartagram displays instagram photos in a map layout. While Bloom's cool projects are news from earlier in 2011, the update is that Planetary, which looks the neatest, will be available on Monday. It is described as "an all-new, stunningly beautiful way to explore your music collection." They have some examples with Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto, ...

Remember producing spin art at childhood carnivals (and, if you were really fancy, with your in-home toy set)? Claire O'Neill's NPR piece, "How Sound Can Create Sculpture," tapped into my fondest paint memories this week. Dentsu London—the creative agency behind last year's iPad light painting video—has merged music, paint, and photography to create Water Figures. "Water Figures are sculpted by the action of sound waves which eject water based paints into the air from the surface of a rubber membrane (balloon) placed over the front of a small speaker like those used for computers," explains Linden Gledhill, the biochemist/photographer who ...