In addition to House of Holes‘ recent coverage in the New York Review of Books and Open Letters Monthly (and on The Millions), the latest edition of The Paris Review features an interview with “mad scientist of smut” Nicholson Baker. (You can check out an excerpt here.) But for those still unsatisfied, Adam Wilson has assembled a canon of raunchy literature.
Nicholson Baker Overload
Resting On One’s Imaginative Laurels
Etgar Keret is a rising (if not risen already) literary star, but these days, following the publication of his new collection Suddenly, a Knock on the Door, "he seems to be growing complacent, bored even, with his talent," writes Joshua Furst.
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Mind Games
“I suspect ‘chess rage’ and ‘road rage’ are neighboring neural impulses.” Tom Russell at Guernica Magazine has written a fascinating essay on a summer spent playing chess in Bryant Park and the unexpected artistic beauty of the game. Here’s a cursorily-related review of The Chess Machine, a book which features an unbeatable chess-playing automaton controlled by a dwarf.
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New Year, New Interviews
For their first interview of 2013, The Rumpus talks to Zadie Smith, who also, if you'll recall, told us about her Year in Reading last month.
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The Annual Fund
"And, it really means so much to us to watch our birds fly out of the high school nest and into an income bracket that could really benefit the Annual Fund this year. I mean, we have 85% of our goal, but as you know, that’s only a B. And we know that you are an A student." Ah, what a heartwarming and totally genuine letter from my private, nonprofit high school congratulating me on my new job. Thanks, McSweeney's.
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