David Grann in The New Yorker: “Did Texas execute an innocent man?” This is why long-form journalism matters.
An Absolute Must Read
A destination for writers and scholars
John Updike’s childhood home in Shillington, Pennsylvania is going to become a museum.
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Pump the longreads at SXSW
Our own founding editor C. Max Magee is teaming up with our friends at The Bygone Bureau and The Morning News to give a panel discussion at SXSW Interactive 2013 on the future of independent longform writing on the web. If you wanna see the panel make it to Austin, head over the SXSW site to give us your vote. You can register to vote here.
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J.E. Fishman on The New York Times
On The Nervous Breakdown this week, J.E. Fishman considers the book review practices of The New York Times: “My view is very much eastern, very much old school, where a book review from the Times was the only sure sign that an author had arrived. But maybe it’s time to rethink that, and this rethinking has been long overdue.”
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Ultra-Unreal Reality
Does modern China need its own literary sub-genre? On trying to understand China’s “ultra-unreal” reality: “If Magic Realism was the way in which Latin American authors presented their view of their reality, then Ultra-Unreal Realism should be our name for the literature through which the Chinese regard their reality. The Chinese word ‘chaohuan’ (ultra-unreal) is something of a play on the word ‘mohuan’ (magic), as in ‘mohuan xianshizhuyi’ (magic realism)— ‘mohuan’ is ‘magical unreal,’ and ‘chaohuan’ is ‘surpassing the unreal.’”
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On the Reading That Drags On and On
Everyone’s been there: the bookstore event at which the reader drones on and on. The Observer shares some reading horror stories (and a few successes). Sarah McNally of NYC’s McNally Jackson bookstore says, “The traditional reading format is broken.”
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The Lookielikey also rises
Our heartfelt congratulations to Greg Fawcett, winner of this year’s Ernest Hemingway look-alike contest. He credits his success in the competition with “dedication, timing his haircuts carefully and paying attention to the length of his beard.” Looking good Greg, and all you other Papas in Miami.
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Finish Your Novel
Sunil Yapa shares his ideas on how to find the time and money to finish a novel. Pair with Janet Potter’s Millions guide on finding the perfect title for that book in your drawer.
This was the most powerful thing I’ve read in a long time. I hope that the story continues to build momentum.
Me too, but I’m not holding my breath. Nino Scalia is a terrific writer, bless his heart, but he strikes me as the worst kind of ideologue: the kind who doesn’t know he is one. And so, when he says, “Show me such a man…” I think he means “Get me to admit that there is such a man…” which is verily a different kettle of fish.