Sir Frank Kermode, widely acclaimed as Britain’s foremost literary critic, died yesterday in Cambridge at the age of 90. Guardian recalls highlights of his eminent career, including inspiring the founding of The London Review of Books, publishing books ranging from works on Spenser and Donne to last year’s Concerning EM Forster, and being an acclaimed reviewer: Philip Roth admitted that although he dislikes reading reviews, “if Frank Kermode reviewed my book I would read it.”
Literary Critic Sir Frank Kermode Dies at 90
Are You Ready for Some (Writing About) Football?
A whole heap of talented writers got together for American Short Fiction’s NFL Preview. Of particular note: check out Year in Reading alum Michael Schaub opine on his two great loves: “Texas and crushing disappointment.”
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“The petty savageries of family”
Recommended Reading: Laura Bogart on the weird art of memoir writing. (h/t The Rumpus)
Julie & Julia Revisited
Julie Powell "masters the art of French cooking" on her iPad.
Tales of a Fanboy
If you’ve been on the Internet at any point in the last few weeks, you’re probably aware that Twin Peaks is coming back. The seminal (and seminally weird) show by David Lynch will return for nine episodes in 2016. At The Nervous Breakdown, Joshua Lyons explains what the show meant to him, with the help of visual proof that he copied Bobby Briggs’s hair.
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Top Five Desert Island Poems
For all you High Fidelity enthusiasts out there: the hidden world of literary record collecting.
Put on Your Thinking/Dunce Cap
At Slate, David Wolf reviews a new biography of Rene Descartes, who he claims has developed a reputation as the philosophy world’s favorite punching bag.
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