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Percival Everett’s new novel, “James,” a retelling of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” from the perspective of Huck’s enslaved companion, won the National Book Award for fiction on Wednesday. Critics have called Everett’s retelling “a slyly funny masterpiece.”The National Book Award is the latest in a string of accolades for the 67-year-old author, who has dozens of books and short stories under his belt. One of Everett’s books, “Erasure,” was adapted in 2023 into a film, “American Fiction,” starring Jeffrey Wright. The National Book Foundation awarded Jason De León’s “Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling” in the nonfiction category. In response, National Book Foundation executive director Ruth Dickey has said Coates was being honored for his body of work rather than any individual publication.

Persons: Percival Everett’s, “ James, ”, Huckleberry Finn ”, “ James ”, Mark Twain, Jim, Everett, ” Everett, “, Huck Finn, James ”, Booker, Jeffrey Wright, Jason De León’s, Barbara Kingsolver, Paul Coates, Critics, Coates, Ruth Dickey Organizations: BBC, Foundation, Black Classic Press, Book Foundation Locations: America

☆ 'The Wild Robot' director reveals he had 2 different endings for the movie
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-29 | by ( Jason Guerrasio | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

"I didn't want to finish the story with a presumption that we would make more 'The Wild Robot' movies. Warning: Spoilers ahead for "The Wild Robot" book and movie. 'The Wild Robot' movie's ending is more cinematic than the book's"The Wild Robot." DreamWorks AnimationBrown has written two other books in the series, "The Wild Robot Escapes" and "The Wild Robot Protects." When asked if he'd begun work on a sequel to "The Wild Robot," Sanders answered slyly, "Maybe we are."

Persons: Chris Sanders, Peter Brown's, Sanders, —, Peter Brown, Roz, Lupita Nyong'o, gosling, Stephanie Hsu, Kit Connor, Brightbill, she's, Brown, he'd, slyly, She's Organizations: DreamWorks, Service, DreamWorks Animation Locations: Brightbill

☆ A list of the songs vying to be 2024’s summer anthem
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-21 | by ( Scottie Andrew | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

It was easier even a decade ago to settle on the song of the summer. Now that summer has officially started, sample these musical confections and decide for yourself — what’s destined to become the song of summer 2024? Daniel Boczarski/Getty ImagesNot Like Us, Kendrick Lamar Credit: Kendrick Lamar, under exclusive license to Interscope RecordsHere’s a song of the summer that breaks all the rules. ‘A Bar Song (Tipsy),’ ShaboozeyShaboozey mashes up pop-country with the 2004 club classic "Tipsy" on his mournful yet singable hit, "A Bar Song (Tipsy)." Still, lyrics about dragging your increasingly drunk self from bar to bar in a desperate attempt to shed the stress of your 9-to-5 are not unrelatable.

Persons: it’s, Mike Errico, New York University’s, Errico, Sabrina Carpenter Sabrina Carpenter, Nina Westervelt, Sabrina Carpenter, “, Billie Eilish, Billie Eilish's, Arturo Holmes, Eilish, —, Randy Holmes, Tinashe’s, Janet Jackson, factly, Babe, ’ Chappell Roan Chappell Roan, Stephen J, Cohen, Chappell, ”, Kate Bush, Cyndi Lauper’s, Roan fantasizes, Roan didn’t, ’ Tommy Richman, Tommy Richman, Johnny Louis, Richman, ’ Kendrick Lamar, Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Daniel Boczarski, — Lamar, It’s, Lamar, Brett Carlsen, Carter, Shaboozey Organizations: CNN, New York, Davis, Island Records, UMG, Inc, Interscope, Disney, Life, Amusement Records, Getty, Tommy Richman Credit, Concord, Kendrick Lamar Credit, Interscope Records, Lamar, American Locations: New, TikTok, British, singalongs, Chappell Roan, LA, Nashville

☆ I have older parents, and I haven't had kids yet. They aren't pressuring me, but I feel some pressure from myself.
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-30 | by ( India Kushner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Although I've always wanted to have children, I never thought someone else's parents would care about my family planning. She then noted it would be fun if my friend and I were both having kids at the same time, so our kids could have playdates together. I believe part of this worldview comes from having older parents. While my parents aren't asking me, I still feel pressure to have kids soonNow that I've been married for two years, I'm starting to feel emotionally ready to think about having children. Because my parents put their careers first, they hardly ever ask me about having children.

Persons: I've, slyly, They've, She's Locations: Belgium, Argentina, London, Italy

☆ 'Napoleon' is Apple's latest bid to seize cinematic prestige – and Oscars
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

LOS ANGELES – Apple Original Films is a new player on the Academy Award scene, but it's already left an indelible — and historic — mark. With acclaimed director Ridley Scott's "Napoleon" opening just ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, Apple is making another push for Academy Award glory. Heading into November, the Academy Awards race appeared to be dominated by Warner Bros. ' "Barbie" and Universal's "Oppenheimer." Warner Bros. and Legendary Studio's "Dune: Part Two" won't be part of this year's Oscar race after departing to March of next year. Now, in the last few weeks of the year, Academy Award hopefuls are arriving en masse.

Persons: it's, Ridley Scott's, Napoleon, Joaquin Phoenix, Napoleon Bonaparte, Oppenheimer, Martin Scorsese's, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro Organizations: Apple, Academy, Award, Sony, Phoenix, Warner Bros Locations: masse

☆ ‘The Hesitant Fiancée’s’ 19th-century eye-roll is connecting with fed-up women on TikTok
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-19 | by ( Scottie Andrew | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

She’s “The Hesitant Fiancée,” the eponymous subject of the painter Auguste Toulmouche’s 1866 painting. Toulmouche wasn’t a feminist painter, but his work speaks to women todayToulmouche painted scenes of elegant, wealthy French women in domestic settings, often chronicling their romantic exploits. The seated woman in "The Hesitant Fiancée" has inspired TikTok users to create memes based on their own eye roll-worthy moments when they had to swallow their anger. Auguste Toulmouche/From WikipediaWhile Toulmouche was “by no means a painter of feminist art,” Brown said, the women in his paintings are interpreted today as slyly subversive. “Read as a narrative that unfolds across the two works, it looks like the young woman from ‘Forbidden Fruit’ knows what’s about to happen to her.”‘The Hesitant Fiancée’ is courting TikTok fansThe revival of “The Hesitant Fiancée” has been centuries in the making.

Persons: she’s, Auguste Toulmouche’s, She’s, “, Fiancée ”, Kathryn Brown, ”, Brown, Toulmouche wasn’t, Émile Zola, ” Brown, Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Auguste Toulmouche, Toulmouche, They’ve, —, that’s, “ Read, TikTok, Kira, @TheArtRevival, Tatyana, Art, would’ve, who’s, ” Kira Organizations: CNN, Loughborough University, Beaux, Arts ’ Paris Salon, Toulmouche Locations: ”, France

☆ Jennifer Weiner’s New Novel Covers Plenty of Ground
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Catherine Newman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

So are we surprised when Sebastian, of all people, turns up as a rider on Abby’s trip? She is (more or less) perfect all along (or at least as close to perfect as any of us are). No real spoilers here, I hope, but one of the riders turns out to be a pregnant teenager and, because of post-Roe obstructions, it takes a village to help her realize her choices. That’s probably because where I live, all the riders whiz past scoldingly, as if every day is the Tour de France. Also, I don’t like the word “derailleur” (whatever it means) and I don’t need to hear about the chamois lining of anybody’s shorts.

Persons: Sebastian, it’s, she’s, Weiner, ”, Abby, Mary Oliver Organizations: Twitter, de France Locations: mayo

☆ Pee-wee Herman’s Commitment to Silliness and More: The Week in Reporter Reads
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Of all the great flesh-and-blood cartoons of 1980s popular culture — Hulk Hogan, Madonna, Mr. T — the one easiest for small children to relate to was Pee-wee Herman. In reality, Pee-wee Herman was nothing like us at all, a dreamy man-child in a red bow tie whose sugary smile could curl into a punky scowl. A singular piece of comic performance art for a mass audience, Pee-wee Herman stood out in every form he appeared in, whether improv theaters, late-night talk shows, the movies or Saturday morning television. The world of Pee-wee is full of this loopy surrealism that could veer into innuendo but never got dark. It was always welcoming, wildly diverse, profoundly silly.

Persons: Hulk Hogan, Madonna, Herman, wee Herman, Paul Reubens

☆ In Pee-wee Herman, Joy and Fun Got Flat-Out Weird
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Jason Zinoman | More About Jason Zinoman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Of all the great flesh-and-blood cartoons of 1980s popular culture — Hulk Hogan, Madonna, Mr. T — the one easiest for small children to relate to was Pee-wee Herman. In reality, Pee-wee Herman was nothing like us at all, a dreamy man-child in a red bow tie whose sugary smile could curl into a punky scowl. A singular piece of comic performance art for a mass audience, Pee-wee Herman stood out in every form he appeared in, from improv theaters to late-night talk shows to the movies to Saturday morning television. His appearances on that most ironic of late-night shows were like invasions from Candy Land. You laughed not because the jokes were funny, but because they were told with such commitment to the fun of it all.

Persons: Hulk Hogan, Madonna, Herman, wee Herman, Paul Reubens, David Letterman, ”, Brother Theodore, Harvey Pekar, Andy Kaufman Locations: Candy

☆ Ann Roth Is Hollywood’s Secret Weapon
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-23 | by ( Maureen Dowd | More About Maureen Dowd | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“It was probably Jude Law and Matt Damon in ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley,’” she said. “Not grain.”After all, as Ms. Roth said slyly, “I’m the world’s oldest costume designer, damn it!”Confirm or DenyMaureen Dowd: You have been wearing blue toenail polish every day since 1953. Ann Roth: Mike Nichols asked me to come to dinner with Anthony Minghella at the fancy Chinese restaurant in Beverly Hills, Mr Chow. She taught me about a fabric that was made in Czechoslovakia and found in Switzerland called silk souffle, which really doesn’t exist anymore. Cameramen sometimes liked to use it on their lenses because it made people look better.

Persons: Jude Law, Matt Damon, ‘, Ripley, ’ ”, Mamma Mia, ’, Mia, Streep, Roth, slyly, “, Maureen Dowd, Ann Roth, Mike Nichols, Anthony Minghella, Mr Chow, Minghella, Mike, “ You’re, Miles White, Marlene Dietrich, Miles Organizations: Ringling Bros, Barnum, Bailey, “ Locations: Beverly Hills, Las Vegas, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland

☆ Celebrities like Ryan Reynolds and Gwyneth Paltrow are flocking to LinkedIn to show off their business acumen
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

LinkedIn is a professional social media platform for normies, but now celebrities want in too. Stars like Ryan Reynolds and Gwyneth Paltrow are showing off their business side on the platform. Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. Reynolds's posts include promoting Mint Mobile and his other business ventures, such as ownership of Welsh soccer team Wrexham. He's not the only celebrity to do so with Mindy Kaling, Jennifer Lopez, and Gwyneth Paltrow also making an effort to blend into the professional world of LinkedIn.

Persons: Ryan Reynolds, Gwyneth Paltrow, Reynolds, I've, He's, Mindy Kaling, Jennifer Lopez, they've, Jenna Drenten, influencers, Richard Burton, Mark Borkowski, Daniel Roth, there's, Amobi Okugo, Raphaël Varane, Okugo Organizations: Service, LinkedIn, Mint Mobile, Mobile, Street, Welsh, Welsh soccer, Wrexham, Social, Twitter, Chicago's Quinlan School of Business, Financial Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ A New Hiroshi Sugimoto Sculpture in San Francisco Reaches for Infinity
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Jori Finkel | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The San Francisco skyline has radically changed over the past two decades because of all the real estate development. The Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto, famous for his slyly deceptive photography, has just planted a slender, 69-foot-tall stainless steel sculpture on a hilltop in Yerba Buena Island, meant to serve as an anchor — or beacon, given its height — for the area’s new public art program. From some viewpoints it looks like the tip of a sewing needle poking out above the trees and cellular towers of this island in the San Francisco Bay. Because of its particular curved geometry, which tapers from a concrete base of 23 feet to a top that is less than one inch in diameter, the sculpture looks as if it’s growing infinitely smaller and taller as it reaches for Earth’s outer atmosphere. The artist paradoxically calls his skyscraper “Point of Infinity,” and, even more than the beautiful sliver of mirror-finished stainless steel itself, he hopes to showcase that Zen koan-like notion.

Persons: Hiroshi Sugimoto, ”, Sugimoto, “ Organizations: San Locations: San Francisco, Yerba Buena, San Francisco Bay

☆ The Software Slyly Turning Us Into Bigger Tippers
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Imani Moise | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/tipping-point-of-sale-software-bfd7ac3e

Persons: Dow Jones

☆ Your Guides to the World of Fairies and to the Multiverse
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Amal El-Mohtar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

But though many have left, none have returned — until a boy named Tutu sets out to find water to help his ailing mother. While on his quest through the desert, Tutu meets many strange people with many strange stories and, through them, uncovers dangerous truths. Invaders stealing the literal tongues of the invaded is such a powerful, resonant premise, one that accrues more layers as Tutu navigates the desert. In keeping with the contradictions at the book’s heart, it left me perfectly sated and hungry for more. A question recurs throughout the book, an attempt to explain the concept of a multiverse: How many numbers are there between 1 and 2?

☆ This Eclectic Harlem Living Room Shows How to Rock Red Walls
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Catherine Romano | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

For the recurring series, Critical Eye, we present the creator of a room with our interpretation of its design and ask him or her to respond. Our Design AssessmentALEXANDER SMALL’S Harlem living room reads at first like a flouting of decorating rules. The chef and restaurateur clad a traditional Chippendale sofa and Queen Anne ottoman in a sporty houndstooth check, the stuff of nattily tailored jackets. And where such a coat might be slyly lined in scarlet or accessorized with a peep of red pocket square, Mr. Smalls subverted the whole notion of a “pop of color” by slathering the walls in a dashing, rakish red.

☆ ‘Alexis Smith: The American Way’ Review: Southern California Collage
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( Peter Plagens | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

La Jolla , Calif.Alexis Smith is not quite a feminist artist, not quite a conceptualist, not quite an installation artist, not always an ironist, and in the beginning she wasn’t even Alexis Smith. In her art, however, Ms. Smith is at times all of those things. Collage—intimate and mural-sized—is her metier, and her sensibility is more literary than plastic. One could easily get the idea from the 50 works on view in “Alexis Smith: The American Way” at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in La Jolla that the artist has read most of the Great Books of the Western World and seen almost every movie and stage musical ever made. This is slyly accomplished by—to describe a typical Smith collage—a small pictorial souvenir from popular culture coupled with a few typewritten words from, for example, a Raymond Chandler L.A. detective novel.

☆ M&M'S is adding a new character
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN Business —Earlier this year, Mars shocked the internet when it unveiled new looks for its M&M’S characters. Now, M&M’S is making another, bigger change — this time, it’s adding a brand new character to the mix. And customers will be able to buy purple M&M’S online, an option that was already available. But when it comes to a regular bag of peanut M&M’S, purple fans are out of luck. “Now we know for certain that M&M’S is a cultural icon.”So when it came to the new purple character, Hwang said, M&M’S didn’t take the reaction to Green into account.

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