What’s it like to be a really tall woman, and what do vampires have to do with small-town tourism? Also, what is Wordnik? Today’s news has fun facts about all of the above, as well as an enlightening interview with author Joseph O’Neill. Enjoy!
Don't be fooled by the cute, bubbly background - it's a dictionary!
- You would think that associating a town with vampires would be bad for tourism, but the opposite has been true for Forks, Washington. Stephenie Meyer chose the town as the setting for Twilight because it is the rainiest city in the United States – little did she (or the 3,221 residents of Forks) know that this decision would lead to an influx of tourism that brought 8,000 visitors in June alone. The Guardian has more information on Twilight‘s effect on the town’s economy and local vampire population.
- It’s not uncommon to hear about the advantages bestowed on tall men – higher salaries, more luck with the ladies – but what about tall women? In her just-released The Tall Book: A Celebration of Life From on High, Arianne Cohen reports on what life is like as a tall (in her case, 6’3″) woman. The discussion ranges from airplane leg room to treatments in the Netherlands to stunt girls’ growth. The New York Times has more about the book, including a podcast and some fun, height-related trivia.
- If you haven’t checked out Wordnik yet, it’s time. Infinitely cooler than a standard dictionary, Wordnik explains how words are actually used with everything from images to Twitter quotes. Like Wikipedia, users can contribute to the site, providing more examples and keeping things current. The National Book Critics Circle blog chatted with founder Erin McKeen, who says she has had the same dream since age eight – “to have as much information about as many words as possible available to as many people as possible.” Even for those of us who didn’t grow up dreaming about word usage or spend 17 years editing dictionairies (as McKean did), Wordnik is a lot of fun, and will likely improve your Scrabble game.
- In Part I of an interview with Joseph O’Neill, The Elegant Variation asks the Netherland author how his ideas take shape and what books have influenced him. Finding plot relatively unimportant, O’Neill emphasizes voice and concept, saying, “You want your text to generate ideas and feelings which you, yourself, are not capable of generating.” Judging by the acclaim Netherland has received, he’s doing just that.
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