On Men and Violence

Read Mary Gaitskill's short story, "The Other Place," about men and obsessions with violence in last year's Valentine's Day issue of the New Yorker:

"My son, Douglas, loves to play with toy guns. He is thirteen. He loves video games in which people get killed. He loves violence on TV, especially if it’s funny. How did this happen? The way everything does, of course. One thing follows another, naturally."

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Gaitskill will share the stage with poet Tom Healy, tonight, Wednesday, July 25th, 8PM, Davis Audiorium, Palamountain Hall, 815 North Broadway, Saratoga. Free.

Click here for more events in the series. All are free and open to the general public.

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The War on Science

Physicist and media star Michio Kaku, who visits this coming Tuesday 2/21, talks about the new war on science by scientifically illiterate politicians and their constituencies, and the obligation of scientists to speak out persuasively in favor of their fields.

The new 3-minute Big Think video is entitled "How Physics Got Fat (And Why We Need to Sing For Our Supper)."

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HBO Loves Literary Fiction

Novels by February 2011 visitor Karen Russell, November 2012 visitor Tom Perrotta, and October 2003 visitor Jennifer Egan are under development for HBO series.

Read articles about the forthcoming adaptations: Swamplandia!, The Leftovers, and A Visit from the Goon Squad.

And let's not forget Bored to Death, by March 2006 visitor Jonathan Ames, cancelled after its third season in December 2011.

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Tom Perrotta's New Novel To Be HBO Series

HBO is developing a series based on author Tom Perrotta's upcoming novel "The Leftovers."

Hourlong drama explores the Rapture and how the sudden disappearance of loved ones in a suburban town affects everyone left behind. Perrotta, who is writing the pilot, will exec produce with Ron Yerxa and Albert Berger.

The author has Hollywood connections, having written "Little Children" and then adapting the screenplay for the Kate Winslet-Patrick Wilson starrer. Earlier in his career, Perrotta wrote the novel "Election," which was turned into Alexander Payne's feature starring Reese Witherspoon. Both pics were Oscar nominated. More in Variety.

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