At the Philadelphia Inquirer, neurologists look at cases where serious brain injury has actually brought about higher levels of creativity in artists, particularly where linguistic ability is harmed. “Language is the bully of the brain,” [one neurologist] says. “It takes up its own space and if something else gets crowded out, too bad.” (via Book Bench)
The Science of Language and Creativity
The Crisis of the Canon
"I don’t start with disorder; I start with the tradition. If you’re not trained in the tradition, then deconstruction means nothing." On Derrida, Foucault, and the deconstructionist defense of the canon.
Portraits of the Public Commons
The subjects of photographer Robert Dawson's latest project are beautiful, educational, and in danger; they are public libraries. For his new book, The Public Library: A Photographic Essay, Dawson visited hundreds of public libraries, from little free libraries to icons, in 48 states to photograph "our best example of the public commons." The Morning News has a few of his photos as well as an essay on the importance of libraries by Charles Simic. "Wherever I found a library, I immediately felt at home."
●
●
Rule No. 8: Is secret.
Colson Whitehead offers eleven simple writing rules. Also check out our review of Whitehead's most recent novel, Zone One.
Necessary Losses
“When people are young adults, they have these packs, or tribes, that they form. Those connections are very real, and yet another, more powerful social narrative is that you’re supposed to pair off and have children—and never see your friends again. In the case of the gay world, there’s an additional element, in which you’re supposed to spin away from your straight friends and be part of a gay world. Both ideas of adulthood are sad to me, and I was attracted to a group of friends as a lost paradise, and one that there’s no way to keep.” At The Paris Review Daily, Anna Altman talks with Caleb Crain about his new book, Necessary Errors.
●
●
Modern Anxiety
"I think dystopian novels are really about present anxiety, aren’t they?" Chang-rae Lee said in an interview for the Daily Beast's "How I Write" series. His dystopian novel, On Such a Full Sea, was part of our 2014 book preview.
●
●
“I’m more articulate then I was when I was nine, but I don’t know anything new.”
Ryan Bradley chats with Gary Amdahl, author of Visigoth, about fiction, "reality hunger," and the current publishing climate.
●
●