‘Nothing Random’ Review: He Was His Own Bestseller Bennett Cerf’s Random House went from scrappy startup to publishing giant. Along the way, Cerf became a celebrity.

Wrote about publishing again:
www.wsj.com/arts-culture...

Very sad. You've been doing great work.

Timothy Farrington - A Yearn to Return Timothy Farrington: A Yearn to Return - True Nature: The Lives of Peter Matthiessen by Lance Richardson

On Matthiessen:
literaryreview.co.uk/a-yearn-to-r...

‘Matching Minds With Sondheim’ and ‘Ambigrammia’: The Art of the Puzzle How wordplay and devilish games of deduction can be as satisfying to the soul as a song.

'“Hedonism ruined theatrical fellow (8),” for example, might be a clue for a certain late genius of the Broadway musical (“theatrical fellow”) whose eight-letter surname is “hedonism” anagrammed (i.e., “ruined”).' Solve the cryptic in Tim Farrington's review! www.wsj.com/arts-culture...

The art of lossy compression isn't hard to master

‘Émile Zola’ Review: Mining France for Stories The prolific novelist wanted to portray the workings of everyday life in France in an increasingly mechanized age. His mission was to expose the origins of social unease.

"'The Belly of Paris,' set in the newly built Parisian central market, pauses the action at one point for a delirious rhapsody about cheeses, whose odors are compared to the instruments of an orchestra." Tim Farrington with a fun and insightful piece on Zola (gift link). www.wsj.com/arts-culture...

Reminds me of our Mass-Observation days.