“In modern times, you can find a stray cabaret or goth club in most modern metropolitan areas. But back in the late 19th century, your options were limited, albeit merrily deranged.

Paris of the 1890s had several supernatural nightlife options, each of them with marvelously outlandish gimmicks. In the 1899 book Bohemian Paris of To-Day by William Chambers Morrow and Édouard Cucuel, the authors visit several of the City of Lights darker drinking destinations, such as the Cabaret du Néant (“The Cabaret of Nothingness”) in the neighborhood of Montmartre.

At this gothic nightspot, visitors pondered their own mortality as they drank on coffins and were served libations (named after diseases) by monks and funeral attendees.”

Read the whole article here. 

Interviewer - “The parodies of Freud in Lolita and Pale Fire suggest a  wider  familiarity  with  the good doctor than you have ever publicly granted. Would you comment on this?”

Nabokov - “Oh, I am not up to discussing again that figure of fun. He is not worthy of more attention than I have granted him  in  my novels  and  in Speak, Memory. Let the credulous and the vulgar continue to believe that all mental woes can be cured by a daily application of old Greek myths to their private  parts. I really do not care.”

“The kind of woman most men want - but shouldn’t have!”

I’ve always loved the 1945 Michael Curtiz film starring Joan Crawford. Adapted from one of James M. Cain’s classic hardboiled novels, it tells the story of a woman who manages to go from selling home-baked pies to owning one of the most successful restaurant chains in California, while desperately trying to win her snobby daughter’s love.  When I first read about the HBO remake of the film - or re-adaptation of the book? - I was very excited, but also thought I might be disappointed. How could a modern version of this classic bring anything new, or better, to the original?

I watched it not long ago and loved it. The fact that it’s a mini-series allows it to explore the characters in more depth, and the fact that it was made in 2010 allows it to show the sexual side of the story, which is one that could only be hinted at in 1940s Hollywood. I would not say that either of the two adaptations is ‘better’ than the other, but I do think that they complement each other, each providing its era’s best to a fantastic story. While Joan Crawford is one of the 1940s’ best actresses, and won an Oscar for her role in the film, Kate Winslet and Evan Rachel Wood are just as impressive in their roles as Mildred and Veda Pierce. The 1945 movie is a joy to watch because of its meticulous lighting and mise-en-scene, and the HBO series did a beautiful job of re-creating 1930s California [click here to read an article on the LA times about the interior design in the miniseries!]….and the costumes are breathtaking!!