—Emily Gordon (continued)

At Flavorpill, vintage covers of The Phantom Tollbooth from all over the world. The 2006 German edition is particularly gorgeous, as is the ethereal 2007 Chinese cover. But who in their right mind would junk Jules Feiffer’s illustrations?

—Emily Gordon

Education for the Real World:

Look carefully at the map of the "city" (traversed by "I-494") in this subway ad.

--Jonathan Taylor

Emily Gordon writes to recommend:

An affectionate, persuasive, sensible defense of the memoir by Deb Olin Unferth. (Guernica magazine)

Another inventive chronicler of our time: an interview with Jesse Thorn, impresario of the radio show and podcast “The Sound of Young America.” (Nieman Journalism Lab)

Two pieces about the meaning of bed bugs, which erode both sanity and civilization: in Guernica again and in the Utne Reader, which excerpted the piece from California magazine. As we know from Atul Gawande, these pieces will probably make you feel itchy, and hearing that the problem is getting you worse will probably make you anxious. But believe me, an uncontrollable but temporary phantom itch and a fleeting bout of anxiety (and the useful knowledge that you should put your suitcase in your hotel bathtub) is a thousand times better than having actual bed bugs. So long, Brooklyn!

Jonathan Taylor writes:

In a de facto way, I don't post links to great Awl posts, because how would I choose, where would I stop? But I must pay tribute to this monument of literary parody: Selections From V.S. Naipaul's Yelp Account, by Mike Barthel.