In a New York Times op-ed piece on violence in children’s literature, Maria Tatar claims that “the savagery we offer children today is more unforgiving than it once was.” Is that really the case? Adam Gidwitz‘s A Tale Dark And Grimm (reviewed by the Times last November), which underscores the violence inherent in Grimm’s tales, can be read as a counterpoint.
Violence and Darkness for Children
The History of Print
This week in book-related infographics: The History of Print.
Bad Behavior
There’s a scandal gaining traction in the UK, and it involves sending books through the mail. The country’s justice secretary, Chris Grayling, is standing by a new law that bans inmates from receiving parcels of books. According to him, the law is intended to make inmates “earn [their] privileges.” (h/t Page-Turner)
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Redefining Speculative Fiction
"In a genre that has long been dominated by white men and Western mythological tropes, Ms. Okorafor’s stories, which feature young black girls in starring roles as superheroes and saviors of humanity, have been hailed as groundbreaking." The New York Times shines a spotlight on Nnedi Okorafor and other African American science fiction and fantasy writers building on -and popularizing-a tradition of African and African American folklore in the sci fi and fantasy genre.
New Norman Rush
New Yorker book critic James Wood dropped in on our "Best of the Millennium" piece on Norman Rush's Mortals and offered this tidbit, "I think [Rush's] next book — his first to be set in America — will be unlike anything he has written before."
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DJ Díaz
"I’ve always thought Yunior’s voice isn’t possible without hip-hop," Junot Díaz says. He discusses how hip-hop influenced his writing, his top three albums (Immortal Technique’s Revolutionary Vol. 2., Wu-Tang Clan's Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers, and Big Daddy Kane's Long Live the Kane), and even Miley Cyrus in an interview with Salon. Previously, we reported that he wrote his first book to the Conan the Barbarian soundtrack.
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Tuesday Links
The LBC has named its next pick. It's a fantastic, epic, funny book. Visit the blog for all the details.Forbes rounds up the most expensive books sold at auction in 2006. The top ten include five atlases, but according to the slide show that accompanies the story, a Shakespeare First Folio brought in the most: $5.1 million.Darby's blog turns two and he cleverly uses this fact as an excuse to link to some Swedish librarians."Which f**king road would you live on?"So sad. A spelling bee training book with typos.
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Greatly Exaggerated
At 74, Clive James is a remarkably prolific poet, one who’s working hard to finish or publish three books in the next year alone. He spoke with Douglas Murray of The Spectator about his unflagging energy. “At the moment, I am in the slightly embarrassing position where I write poems saying I am about to die and I don’t,” he says. You could also read our own Garth Risk Hallberg on James’s book Cultural Amnesia.
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