Another Salinger Article

This New York Times article about Salinger is excellent.

J. D. Salinger, author of 'Catcher in the Rye,' dies

Maybe now we'll find out what Salinger has been writing all these years. Check out this story from The Washington Post:

J. D. Salinger, 91, a celebrated author and enigmatic recluse whose 1951 novel "The Catcher in the Rye" became an enduring anthem of adolescent angst and youthful rebellion and a classic of 20th-century American literature, has died at his home in Cornish, N.H.

The author's son, in a statement from the author's literary representative, confirmed the death to the Associated Press. Mr. Salinger died Wednesday, according to the AP, but no cause of death was immediately reported.

To read more, click here.

Don't Blame Yourself if You Can't Understand Theorists

I just had to share this. Ever wonder why we can't understand some theorists? Dieter Freundlieb in Poetics Today (16.2) notes that "poststructuralists such as Foucault and Derrida often seem to use scholarly language and argumentation for purely strategic purposes rather than for participation in a communal and democratic effort to reach consensus. Occasionally, this is even openly admitted, as when Derrida, commenting on his allegedly often misunderstood phrase that there is nothing outside the text (and similar statements), said it served a strategic function." Now I know why I am unable to read through an entire Derrida essay in one sitting.

Proof: Plain English is Best

In 2005, Science Daily reported on a study by psychologist David M. Oppenheimer that using big words without need makes people think you're dumb. 

Great Comic on Misspelling

"Ten Words You Need to Stop Misspelling" by The Oatmeal.