Ahead of next week’s publication of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, the battle over Stieg Larsson’s lucrative literary estate. (Thanks, Craig)
A Literary Thriller
Just Lie Down
“Will excessive drinking unleash your creative energy? Who can say?” Over at The Toast, intrepid cataloger Ren Arcamone has compiled a list of things you could be doing instead of writing your thesis. Go read it instead of writing your thesis. Continue the stay of essay execution and check out Mallory Ortberg’s hilarious (and helpful) guide to some common signs that you might be dying in a Victorian novel.
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Boltanski’s No Man’s Land
French installation artist of the forgotten, Christian Boltanski, presents a new exhibit in New York: a vast landscape of old clothes and biscuit tins entitled No Man’s Land at the Park Avenue Armory. Image gallery at The Daily Beast.
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Claire Messud on Edith Wharton’s Clear and Complex Vision
Claire Messud reflects on one of Edith Wharton's most memorable characters, Undine Spragg from The Custom of the Country.
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For Her
Leave it to Roxane Gay to come up with a novel format for an essay on the feminist novel. In the new issue of Dissent, she presents eleven theses on the topic, including references to Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying, and Jeanette Winterson’s Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit. Sample quote: “Not every novel that concerns itself with the lives of women is a feminist novel. Fifty Shades of Grey is not a feminist novel.” You could also read our own Edan Lepucki on the problem with feminist anthems.
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We Need to Talk About Lionel
“Officials in charge of an Australian writers festival were so upset with the address by their keynote speaker, the American novelist Lionel Shriver, that they censored her on the festival website and publicly disavowed her remarks.” Dang. (We agree, it was pretty bad – she wore a sombrero for most of her speech.) Writers’ conferences: They’re intense.
Other People Pod: Roxane Gay
PANK co-editor, HTMLGiant contributor, hysterically funny reviewer of award shows and movies, and most recently the author of Ayiti, Roxane Gay, does an Other People Podcast with Brad Listi.
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