The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads from 2013

Why New York City Is Known as “The Big Apple”
Why New York City Is Known as “The Big Apple”

A brief history of brilliant branding.

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The Pious Infant: Edward Gorey’s Rare Illustrated Allegory about the Dangers of Dogmatism
The Pious Infant: Edward Gorey’s Rare Illustrated Allegory about the Dangers of Dogmatism

A darkly delightful allegory about what happens when we take our convictions to an extreme.

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Kenneth Patchen Reads His Love Poem “Creation”
Kenneth Patchen Reads His Love Poem “Creation”

“Any person who loves another person, wherever in the world, is with us in this room…”

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Flannery O’Connor’s Little-Known Cartoons
Flannery O’Connor’s Little-Known Cartoons

“Everything has its testing point in the eye, and the eye is an organ that eventually involves the whole personality, and as much of the world as can be got into it.”

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Kurt Vonnegut on the Writer’s Responsibility, the Limitations of the Brain, and Why the Universe Exists: A Rare 1974 WNYC Interview
Kurt Vonnegut on the Writer’s Responsibility, the Limitations of the Brain, and Why the Universe Exists: A Rare 1974 WNYC Interview

“We have such a young culture that there is an opportunity to contribute wonderful new myths to it, which will be accepted.”

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Famous Writers’ Sleep Habits vs. Literary Productivity, Visualized
Famous Writers’ Sleep Habits vs. Literary Productivity, Visualized

The early bird gets the Pulitzer … sort of.

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Alice Munro’s Nobel Prize Interview: Writing, Women, and the Rewards of Storytelling
Alice Munro’s Nobel Prize Interview: Writing, Women, and the Rewards of Storytelling

“I want my stories to move people … to feel some kind of reward from the writing.”

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The Love Letters of Allen Ginsberg and Peter Orlovsky, with a Cameo by William S. Burroughs
The Love Letters of Allen Ginsberg and Peter Orlovsky, with a Cameo by William S. Burroughs

“Life seems emptier without you, the soulwarmth isn’t around…”

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The Evolution of Feathers: The Animated Story of How Dinosaurs Became Birds
The Evolution of Feathers: The Animated Story of How Dinosaurs Became Birds

“Feathers are some of the most remarkable things ever made by an animal. They’re gorgeous in their complexity, delicate in their construction, and yet strong enough to hold a bird thousands of feet in the air.”

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Otto: The Autobiography of a Teddy Bear
Otto: The Autobiography of a Teddy Bear

One of history’s most beloved children’s illustrators tackles one of history’s most loathsome episodes.

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