An “extended short film excerpt” of Joan Didion reading from her memoir Blue Nights, which our own Michael Bourne reviewed yesterday.
Blue Nights
“Republics of Imagination”
Our love of The Atlantic‘s By Heart series continues with Azar Nafisi‘s contribution to the series: an essay on reading James Baldwin, the importance of literature to democracy, and how ultimately “we need literature to remind us how like each other we are, despite our differences.” Pair with Justin Campbell‘s Millions essay on race, fatherhood and reading Baldwin.
An American Poem
“I offer you a moody campaign!” Illustrator Nathan Gould revisits the 1992 presidential election, in which badass feminist (and really great writer) Eileen Myles ran as an “openly-female” write-in candidate.
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Beckett’s Bones
80 years ago Samuel Beckett’s publisher rejected his short story “Echo’s Bones” because it gave him the “jim-jams.” The 13,500-word piece on the afterlife was intended for More Pricks Than Kicks until his editor Charles Prentice claimed, “People will shudder and be puzzled and confused; and they won’t be keen on analysing the shudder.” Fortunately, it will finally be published by Faber and Faber on April 17.
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Oylmpics: A Cautionary Tale
Remember, everybody. Running with the Olympic torch is temporary, but a misspelled tattoo is forever.
What is a diverse book?
Year in Reading alum Rumaan Alam reflects at The Literary Hub about the labels we ascribe to texts. Pair with his recent interview with Lindsay Hatton.
The Paris Review Interviews Ursula K. Le Guin
One year after The Millions interviewed Ursula K. Le Guin, the author is interviewed by The Paris Review. Causation or correlation: you decide.