Another week of literary contests has whittled the Tournament of Books field down to four: Freedom, A Visit From the Goon Squad, Next, and The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. Today, the team offers more analysis, previewing and recapping. Up next: the semis, the Zombie round, and the grand finale.
The Final Rounds of the ToB
You Can’t Take His Word for It
“The suit is the most recent legal move in a years-long dispute between Burton and the broadcaster that originated the series.” New York Magazine's Vulture blog reports that LeVar Burton is being sued by WNED-TV in Buffalo, NY over the continued use of his famous Reading Rainbow tagline, “but you don't have to take my word for it.”
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The Eternal Mystery
Recommended reading: Jonathan Russell Clark, who's written for us many, many times before, considers "The Eternal Mystery of the Reclusive Writer" for Literary Hub.
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One Last Taste
The last meal is a curious staple of modern executions, not least because it involves, in the words of one death-row inmate, “putting gas in a car that don’t have no motor.” At Lapham’s Quarterly, an essay on the ritual’s history, one that includes mention of famous last meals like terminally ill French President Francois Mitterrand’s final dinner of “Marennes oysters, foie gras, and two ortolan songbirds.”
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When A Critic Becomes An Author
Vanity Fair talks to renowned book critic Michiko Kakutani about her debut The Death of Truth and why she decided to become an author.
Nit-Pick
Why does the new Liam Neeson film use a hyphen in its title? According to AP Style, “nonstop” is one word, yet the film is marketed stateside with a hyphen stuck in the middle. At Slate, L.V. Anderson looks into a typographic mystery.
Of these, I’ve only read Freedom and absolutely loved it. What great insight into the American Dream! What can you tell me about the other titles? Of the three, which one is a must-read right now?
I’ve read three of the 4.
Actually, I would read “Skippy Dies” first which is on pace to be in the Zombie round.
If you are looking for something quick, read “Goon Squad.” It goes fast and most people really seem to like it.