Books

The Quentin Tarantino-inspired fantasy book critic league

Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino has said he plans to leave movie-making behind at 60. He plans to write scripts, books and book reviews.

Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino has said he plans to leave movie-making behind at 60. He plans to write scripts, books and book reviews.  (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

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After he turns 60, Quentin Tarantino will stop making films and turn to writing, he told NPR’s Terry Gross on Wednesday on the program Fresh Air. In addition to screenplays and books, Tarantino specifically noted he planned to write book reviews. Tarantino-as-book-critic is an intriguing idea -- one that sparks the imagination. What if other celebrities abandoned their cultural posts to become book reviewers? This is our celebrity-as-book-critic fantasy league.

Kim Kardashian with Kanye West on New Year's Eve 2012

While carrying Kanye West’s child, Kim Kardashian enjoys a period of rest and contemplation; she reads widely. After the baby is born, Ms. Kardashian undertakes a glamorous campaign to popularize works in translation with American audiences.  (Denise Truscello / AFP/Getty Images)

Jeremy Lin scores a basket for the Houston Rockets

Basketball star and former Harvard student Jeremy Lin uses the off-season to launch “Linsanity Literature,” a roundtable with fellow book critics on the Nerdist You Tube channel.  (Eric Gay / Associated Press)

Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood follows in Tarantino’s footsteps and gives up filmmaking for book reviewing. As readers of the New York Review of Books soon learn, the man who spoke to an empty chair at the 2012 Republican Convention is a big fan of Samuel Beckett.  (Lynne Sladky / Associated Press)

Lady Gaga

The disproved stories of Lady Gaga and Slavov Zizek turn out to have been a double-fake; the two have been in close communication for years. Lady Gaga’s London Review of Books piece on the rhetorical pitfalls of post-modern capitalism makes for an impressive book reviewing debut.  (Joel Ryan / Los Angeles Times)

Donald Trump

Realizing his celebrity might complicate how people read his book reviews, Donald Trump quietly begins publishing under various pseudonyms at multiple publications. His identity is revealed, however, after people notice several reviews that begin with “This is the No. 1, biggest, best book ever written!”  (David Becker / AFP/Getty Images)

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