The Guardian offers a long, worthwhile profile of Dave Eggers, who suddenly is being considered and reconsidered seemingly everywhere. “The McSweeney’s empire… often gets characterised as a kind of cabal: a hip, young gang. [Eggers] and [wife Vendela] Vida, whose writerly circle includes Nick Hornby, Rick Moody, Jonathan Lethem and Joyce Carol Oates, tend to be seen as tastemakers. He thinks this is ridiculous.” (Thanks Emre!)
The Ongoing Reconsideration of Dave Eggers
Tuesday New Release Day
The New Yorker has collected all the stories from its 20 under 40 series into a single, snappy volume, on sale now. Also out this week is the third volume of Edmund Morris' biography of Teddy Roosevelt and a new literary foray by comedian Steve Martin, An Object of Beauty.
●
●
“I have always wondered.”
John Jeremiah Sullivan’s "Diary" for the Financial Times features the Mars Curiosity, Quaker school songs, and all sorts of family bonding.
●
●
Fanged
If you're wondering why you should read this new essay on Jack London, consider this sentence: "Born in 1876, the year of Little Bighorn and Custer’s Last Stand, the prolific writer would die in the year John T. Thompson invented the submachine gun." In Smithsonian Magazine, Kenneth Brandt explores the brief life of the author.
●
●
The Smoking Gun
"As a literary symbol portraying man’s tragic nature, is any more compelling than a gun? A gun lets fear become death, quiet desperation become brutality whose fallout others are forced to deal with." Over at The Literary Hub, a list of 10 novels that follow Chekhov's famous dictum, literally. Might we also suggest our own Emily St. John Mandel's The Singer's Gun?
Consider Us Tucked In
"Get yourself cozy, and get ready to go on a fantastic new adventure." Idris Elba reading bedtime stories for #ProjectLiteracy? Yes please.
You Know the Story
"Storytelling is an indispensable human preoccupation, as important to us all—almost—as breathing. From the mythical campfire tale to its explosion in the post-television age, it dominates our lives. It behooves us then to try and understand it." On the inherent sameness of stories with John Yorke from The Atlantic.
●
●
Elena Ferrante, Author. Columnist?
Best selling author Elena Ferrante will be a new weekend columnist for the Guardian magazine. Why did she decide to go this route in addition to writing a screenplay? Read her reasoning and pair with this essay on reading Italy through Ferrante's work.