At The Rumpus: illustrations by Harry Clarke for a 1925 edition of Goethe’s Faust.
Illustrated Goethe
James Frey’s Fiction Factory
From New York Magazine, a harrowing piece on "Full Fathom Five," the young adult fiction factory spearheaded by James Frey, and the controversial contracts young writers are asked to sign.
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Graphic Pains
Over at Public Books, Jared Gardner explores the theme of pain and illness at the heart of many graphic narratives. As he explains it, “Illness, mental and physical, is arguably comics’ invisible master theme, deeply woven into their genome and shaping the stories they tell, from the earliest newspaper strips (chronic allergies in Winsor McCay’s Little Sammy Sneeze) through the rise of superhero comics (from Batman’s PTSD in 1939 through the Fantastic Four’s radiation poisoning in 1961).” Pair with Paul Morton’s Millions piece on the history of Marvel Comics.
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Little Emotions in the Person
Recommended Reading: On Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie and the art of hiding one's feelings -- whether helpful or detrimental.
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“Yeah, American, boom boom”
In a head-scratching piece of writing for the New Statesman, Dave Eggers (whose novel The Circle just cracked our Top Ten) reflects on a cross-country drive he took from Jeddah to Riyadh. The journey, and in particular a comment made by his chauffeur, caused Eggers to ponder the significance of his nationality, his ability to perceive danger, and the intentions of others. The short of it: Some people from other countries are nice. Who knew?
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Tuesday New Release Day: Schwartz, Towles, Russell
New this week: John Burnham Schwartz follows up Reservation Road with Northwest Corner. Amor Towles debuts with a novel of New York society in the 1930s, Rules of Civility. And Karen Russell's Swamplandia! is now out in paperback.
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On the 33
Recommended reading: "One of the drillers fell to his knees. Some sobbed, in the way men do when their mothers die, or when their sons are born." An exceptional and deeply moving long-form essay in the New Yorker recounting the 69 days spent underground by the famed '33' Chilean miners buried in the 2010 accident at Copiapó.