Fungible Convictions

I relegated every literature blog to the third tab on my Google homepage.

Why?

Because I almost never read their posts.

Why?

Because their headlines really stink.

I suppose it doesn’t surprise me that creative writers gloss over an essential part of getting people to actually read their work—namely, by choosing a good headline. I’ve written terribly uninformative headlines myself. But I almost never read lit blogs now simply because I have no idea what I might be reading. Continue reading

You can get anything published in McSweeney’s if it repurposes ageless Canadian stereotypes!

My favorite: Ballistic beavernauts!

Secret Canadian Superweapons in Development

BY WYNN QUON

Titanium Mountie

Canadarm face slapper

Ballistic beavernauts

120 mm maple-syrup mortar

Peacekeeping robot that attacks you by surprise

Bioengineered crazy lumberjack choppers

Also on McSweeney’s about Canada

McSweeney’s: “A Mother’s Plea”

McSweeney’s: “LISTMANIA!: OTHER BOOKS USEFUL (OR NOT) FOR AMERICANS TO READ, BEYOND WILLIAM BLUM’S ROGUE STATE, BY OSAMA B-L.”

Matt Webb’s Interconnected: “I Am Genmon”

Phil Renaud: The five most useful books on my bookshelf

Mark Boulton: “Five Simple Steps to Typesetting on the web: The Right Glyph for the Job”

Salon: “I Like to Watch”

A List Apart (from last week): “Web 3.0″

Post Road: “Pig Boy’s Wicked Bird”

2006 Weblog Award Nominees

Tin House: Issue #26 is out