John Irving’s The World According to Garp summarized in 60 seconds. Watch it!

A 1-minute silent explanation of Inception using only the OS X Finder. Via Kottke.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day.

[Earlier: The Great Gatsby retold in 60 seconds]

The robot voices add a nice touch.

I am a perpetual optimist, especially on the issue of literature in the digital age. I believe that the Internet presents a number of wonderful new ways to create and distribute literature, and I firmly deny, deny, deny when faced with the all-too-ubiquitous argument that the Internet is killing the book.

One point on which I will concede, however, is that the screen is changing the way we think. After spending eight hours at a computer and simultaneously listening to music, checking Twitter or Facebook (more often than I ought to, I should note), answering emails, editing video, or whatever it is that I’ll end up doing on a given day, suddenly I feel very distracted when faced with an open book. Reading a book can be jarringly simple after a day of multitasking and multimedia; when your brain is trained to process multiple streams of information at the same time, at lighting speed no less, sometimes it can be difficult to focus on just one thing.

So for those people, there’s Teleportal Readings, a monthly web video series made for “those who love reading but readings.” Or, I’d like to add, for those who love readings but think that video recordings of them are terribly dull. Watch what a little green screen hoodoo can do for literature:

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An anonymous, grumpy literary agent has started a Tumblr of “query fails.” Hilarity ensues. Some gems:

This is neither a Christian, racist, sexist, ageist, homophobic, or pornographic essay even if many pictures of nude people are included in the essay.

Greetings agent. I have written the most important book on earth.

I’M TYPING MY QUERY IN ALL CAPS SO YOU WILL BE SURE TO NOTICE IT!

An interesting discussion over at The Rumpus on writing to get paid.

The weirdest story ideas come from your own obsessions, and more great notes on craft from Kelly Link.

Children guess how much authors were paid for their work, with hilarious (and also, sadly accurate) results.

A fan’s awkward/adorable experience meeting her literary hero.

Aaaaand just for kicks, the animated short “The Writer Who Couldn’t Read”: Read more »