Ruth Franklin rises to the defense of much-maligned (and newly retranslated) Emma Bovary.
Madame Bovary, Say Wha?
Double Sided
Two ways of looking at a book: “Had I been still more articulate, I might have said that there’s a special readerly pleasure in approaching a book as you would a box. In its self-containment lies its ferocious magic; you can see everything it holds, and yet its meagre, often hackneyed contents have a way of engineering fresh, refined, resourceful patterns. And Emily might have replied that she comes to a book as to a keyhole: you observe some of the characters’ movements, you hear a little of their dialogue, but then they step outside your limited purview. They have a reality that outreaches the borders of the page.”
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Snowbound
Recommended Reading: Daniel Arnold’s Nervous Breakdown self-interview, which follows an excerpt of his new story collection, Snowblind.
Oprah’s New Book Club Pick Revealed
Word on the street is that Oprah’s new book club pick will be Say You’re One of Them by Uwem Akpan. So, last chance to get one before the Oprah logo goes on the front. We first wrote about Akpan when he appeared in the 2005 New Yorker debut fiction issue. Say You’re One of Them was also a “Most Anticipated” book in 2008.
Fair Warning for Writers
Joe Hiland, The Indiana Review‘s fiction editor, has some advice for writers who submit to his (or any) magazine. He also lists “the three types of stories I most often reject because I feel like I’ve read them before.”
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Best Title or Best Title?
According to the New York Times, a “vigilante copy editor” has hit the sculpture park of the Pratt Institute.
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Weekend (Very) Short Reading
With the help of the students in Oberlin’s Advanced Fiction Workshop, Dan Chaon whittled the 200-story longlist provided by Wigleaf’s editors into The Top 50 (Very) Short Fictions. Enjoy your reading, everybody.
New Miranda July Work on the Way
Welcome news for Miranda July fans: she tweeted this week that she’s finished work on her debut novel, The First Bad Man. The book will publish in January 2015.
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Talking with Michelle Orange
At The Nervous Breakdown, Brad Listi sits down with Michelle Orange, who talks about writing ledes, Pauline Kael, and the story behind her new book, This is Running For Your Life. (For more, go check out her interview with our own Hannah Gersen.)
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