For those who don’t believe in the decline of civilization, new evidence: Snooki has written a novel. Generously, The Wall Street Journal has read it so you don’t have to.
Signs of the Apocalypse: Jersey Shore, the Novel
“Refuge in the bottle and salvation on the page”
Olivia Laing has written an entire book about male writers and their relationships with alcohol, The Trip to Echo Spring, but in a piece for The Guardian she returns to the subject of writers and drink in order to respond to the question, what about women writers? Were any of them alcoholics? “Yes,” she writes, “of course.” She goes on to discuss the lives and work of Jean Rhys, Marguerite Duras, Elizabeth Bishop and Patricia Highsmith, their reasons for drinking and their experiences in a society much more willing to accept the struggles of men than of women. For more from Laing, be sure to check out her Year in Reading for 2013.
Full of Carp
Midwestern investors hope the production of domestically-farmed Asian carp can give rise to “the future Zappos of fish processing,” but such optimists would be wise to safeguard their aquatic livestock against would-be carp thieves.
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The Real Cuba
Year in Reading alumna Patricia Engel writes about the “real” Cuba she encountered in her research trips. Pair with Bill Morris’s Millions essay on Havana’s love for cars.
Music Inspired by Literature
Have you ever wondered how Kafka’s The Trial would translate in music? Philip Glass adapted the novel, and more, to music. Read about other music inspired by literature at Ploughshares. For more on music and literature, check out our Torch Ballads and Jukebox Music column.
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