On the heels of our recent look at the dynamic between Raymond Carver and Gordon Lish, a close reading of versions of Carver’s stories, with and without Lish’s editorial involvement.
Carver and Lish, Revisited
“I’ve escorted two e-partners to the edge of the grave”
Pulitzer winner Tony Horwitz describes – in incredibly depressing fashion – his experience publishing Boom, a digital short representing his first foray into “the brave new world” of digital publishing. Two takeaways for aspiring writers that are not explicitly mentioned, however: don’t write without a contract, and be sure to use an agent from the get-go.
What’s Next? The KGB Bar Run By the Real KGB?
Over at Salon, Joel Whitney explains how The Paris Review worked with the CIA and “served, in part, as a covert international weapon of soft power.” While the possibility is certainly tantalizing, it's necessary to read Whitney's article alongside Carolyn Kellogg's piece in the LA Times, which notes how "the threads of the article ... become unsupportably tenuous" as it carries on.
“The year we killed our teacher”
What's the only thing nicer than new fiction by Hilary Mantel? New fiction by Hilary Mantel that you can read for free. At the LRB, check out the entirety of her latest, "Kinsella in His Hole."
●
●
Liyuan Library by Li Xiaodong Atelier
A new library has been designed for the small village of Huairou on the outskirts of Beijing. Instead of adding a new building inside the village center, the architects chose a site in the nearby mountains, a pleasant five minute walk from the village center. "In doing so we could provide a setting of clear thoughts when one consciously takes the effort to head for the reading room."
Instapoetry Month
We’re in the thick of National Poetry Month now, and Tweetspeak has a full round-up of ways to participate online. In particular, I think the Virginia Quarterly Review’s “Instapoem” series is especially rad. (Gee, I wonder why.)
●
●
A Japanese Country Doctor
Recommended viewing: Kafka's "A Country Doctor" translated into Japanese animation.
●
●