I Want My Book TV

In my admittedly nerdy fantasy world, where books are cool, MTV isn’t the cable channel featured in the anthemic Dire Straits song “Money for Nothing.” It’s Book TV. As in (cue the Mark Knopfler riff and Sting vocals): “I want my Book TV.” A guy can dream. Anyway, I check out the weekend schedule often, and this weekend, the channel has a few shows that might interest World Hum readers.

One features a discussion of Mark Twain. Another has author Anthony Swofford discussing his Gulf War memoir (and inspiration for the new movie) “Jarhead.” (Side note: It’s not online, but Lawrence Weschler’s “Valkyries Over Iraq” piece about war movies in the November Harper’s is fascinating; he explores whether it’s even possible, given the power of combat images, to make an anti-war movie.) Finally, there’s a discussion of Ross King’s “Brunelleschi’s Dome” for fans of Italy and, in particular, Florence.

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