Dan Brown gets D.C. wrong, says Slate. (But isn’t this just another way of saying that it belongs with almost every other narrative, literary or televisual, ever concocted about the Diamond District?)
It’s Not the Spectacles and Pageantry…
Wimmer on Translation
Natasha Wimmer, translator of Roberto Bolaño’s 2666 and Álvaro Enrigue’s Sudden Death, explains her work process and why she’s translating a woman’s work next. Pair with our founder C. Max Magee’s thoughts on machine translation.
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Kitty Lit
If you find cat hair in a book you checked out of the Novorossiysk Library, don’t worry. It belongs to the newest librarian. Kuzya the cat started off as a pet at the Russian library but was promoted after patronage increased due to his presence. The new library assistant even wears a bow tie.
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Hollywood Calls
“Bestselling self-published authors attract producers because they have a proven track record if they stay on Amazon sales charts over time.” The Guardian considers the Hollywood success of writers such as Andy Weir, E. L. James, and Mark Dawson. And just last year our own Bill Morris wondered why literature was enjoying such a good run out in LaLa Land: “Four novels as source material for Oscar-nominated screenplays? What happened? Did some pixie slip a vial of smart powder into the L.A. drinking water?”
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“The C closest to the center”
In the LA Times, Jim Ruland reviews Middle C, the new book by Year in Reading alumnus William H. Gass. For another take on the novel, go read “best-read man in America” Michael Dirda in the Washington Post, or else check out Greg Gerke on the author’s Life Sentences.
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Waiting for Gatsby.
The new film adaptation of The Great Gatsby is going to be released next summer, rather than on Christmas day as it had been originally scheduled. Too bad; I was really looking forward to the Gatsby themed New Year’s Eve parties, I mean just look at those costumes.
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