“I discovered that stealing required a loose, casual energy,” writes Miranda July. “A sort of oneness with the environment, like surfing or horse-whispering.”
Miranda July Steals
New from George Saunders
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Lydia Davis Reads
Recommended Reading: Four stories by Lydia Davis.
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Writing a New Canon
Over at VICE, Karan Mahajan, Tanwi Nandini Islam, and Jenny Zhang talked about the new generation of Asian American writers. “There isn't really a canon, which means if you are Asian American and writing, you're automatically adding to it. Once I realized this, I became extremely protective of my writing," said Zhang. Pair with this Millions interview with Mahajan.
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“Has anyone else tried pouring this stuff over dry cereal? A-W-E-S-O-M-E!”
Amazon collected some of the funniest, top-voted reviews from customers on its website. “Occasionally customer creativity goes off the charts in the best possible way,” they said. Of course, there are also plenty of examples of customers going off the charts in the worst possible ways, too.
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App Happy
Several recent novels -- among them Dave Eggers’s The Circle and Thomas Pynchon’s Bleeding Edge --tackle the effects of social media on our world. The latest, Book of Numbers by Joshua Cohen, may be the best of the bunch, writes Andrew Hulktrans. At Bookforum, he explains why Cohen's depiction of an app-saturated world is unparalleled. You could also read Jonathan Frederick Post on Cohen’s novel Witz.
Just Lie Down
“Will excessive drinking unleash your creative energy? Who can say?” Over at The Toast, intrepid cataloger Ren Arcamone has compiled a list of things you could be doing instead of writing your thesis. Go read it instead of writing your thesis. Continue the stay of essay execution and check out Mallory Ortberg’s hilarious (and helpful) guide to some common signs that you might be dying in a Victorian novel.
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