Byliner.com commissions original work and repurposes old goodies for people who want to read quality stuff on their devices, but don’t want it to take, like, forever. In fact, they promise nothing you’ll find on their premises will take more than two hours to digest. So no Moby Dick, but plenty about Moby Dick. It’s an excellent place to hang out, sort of like a literary non-fiction department store, with items available from all the big brands (New Yorker, Vanity Fair) and yet no one’s trying to spray perfume on you as you try to get what you came for.
Walter Kirn is here. (Watch out he’s got guns.) Sebastian Junger is in the house, which usually means scarier than guns. Amy Sohn’s here, too, which is going to be either scary or sexy or likely both. Kirn’s piece is from The New Republic, Junger’s latest is a Byliner exclusive, and Sohn’s “Smutlife” originally appeared way back in 1996 in the regrettably defunct but once lively New York Press. Best of all, the risque voyeurism Sohn provides will only take six minutes to climax. (Byliner is good enough to give you an estimate. Does that put pressure on people?) There sure is a lot of worthy prose in the store. 102 spectacular examples from 2012 alone, helpfully curated by the widely-read Conor Friedersdorf. That doesn’t even include a speech Richard Russo gave at a college graduation in 2004, now available to all. It’ll take you just five minutes to get the wisdom on offer. (Wonder what the honorarium was?)