A good week for new releases: John McPhee’s new, more personal collection of essays, Silk Parachute, Sam Lipsyte’s The Ask, and, of course, our own Sonya Chung’s debut Long for This World. All three of these books were on our “Most Anticipated” list for 2010. New in paperback today is Colm Tóibín’s Brooklyn.
Tuesday is New Release Time
The Nobel Will Return in 2019
"These elements of scandal, by now familiar in the #MeToo era, claimed an unusual casualty on Friday: The Nobel Prize in Literature, the world’s most prestigious accolade for writing." In the wake of a sex abuse scandal, The Swedish Academy announced it will postpone this year's award until next year when they will name two winners. In the meantime, maybe we should all mull over the problem with prestigious prizes.
Hipster Sommelier
Might I suggest a Pamplemousse with that Ben Fountain, sir? BookRiot has very helpfully compiled a list of La Croix/book pairings. See also: this in memoriam for Michael Jackson, beer connoisseur. Yeah no, not the one you're thinking of.
Hard Mode
Serious reading is harder than ever. With so many distractions around, it’s incredibly difficult for a novel to keep our attention. In The Nation, Joanna Scott makes a case that careful reading is in danger, and builds a case for preserving difficult fiction. You could also read our own Nick Ripatrazone on trying to teach Thomas Pynchon.
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On Forgiveness and Thoughts of Transgression
At BOMB Magazine's website, an interview with A.M. Homes, conducted by (who else) a friend who accompanies her to synagogue. Among other things, the two discuss Yom Kippur, adoption, and May We Be Forgiven, the author's latest novel (which we reviewed).
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“You can’t be up the reader’s ass, as many a writer I think is—cute as hell, ingratiating as hell.”
The best longread you're likely to find this afternoon: Martin Amis talks to David Wallace-Wells about his latest novel, Lionel Asbo: State of England, America's decline, politics, porn, post-modernism and more. Amis even dodges another attempt to bring up that book he wrote about videogames that nobody will let him live down.
I Think I’ll Get It Done Yesterday
Are you reading this because you're procrastinating? Do you happen to be a writer? We thought so. At The Atlantic, Megan McArdle explores why writers are the worst procrastinators. Hint: It's because we have a bad case of imposter syndrome. This isn't the only theory on why we procrastinate, though.
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‘But you must read’
Gay Talese's highly detailed accounting of his daily routine -- what he reads, how he works -- is fascinating.
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Franzen and Oprah: Together at Last?
If Moby Lives is right, the literary beef that erupted when Oprah selected Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections for her book club and he rejected the (in his mind, dubious) honor is about to get a curious denouement. Speculation is that Freedom is poised to become another Oprah selection. And your author suspects that Franzen will be more welcoming this time around. (Oprah sticker haters should probably buy their copies of Freedom now, just to be safe.) Update: The AP confirms and so it begins again.
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