Sure, you could look ahead to the happenings of 2012, but that’s only half as fun as recapping Full Stop‘s 2011 “Best of the Blog” archives. (Part 2 here)
Best of Full Stop
Motel Hell
The average book tour is filled with indignities, but none may be worse than getting kicked out of a cheap motel, which is exactly what happened to our own Bill Morris on the tour for his latest novel. At The Daily Beast, he recounts the unfortunate events that led to him getting booted from a Motel 6. You could also read his essay on listening to the audiobook of his own novel while on tour.
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Big Names, New eBooks
A pair of big-name writers have new shorter-form ebook originals out. Stephen King's Guns is a "pulls-no-punches essay" about gun violence in America, with all proceeds going to Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Meanwhile, Richard Russo has a new novella, Nate in Venice.
Defining American Writing
In TNR, Ruth Franklin attempts to debunk the "strangely antiquated definition of American writing" posited in Dalkey's Best European Fiction anthology. (via)
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The Year in Libraries
"[I]n the days following the election, one thing became clear: many librarians are anxious about the future." From Carla Hayden to copyright reform, Publisher's Weekly has the top 10 library stories of 2016. Also recommended: a piece by Daniel Penev from our own pages earlier this year, about how libraries matter now more than ever.
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From Kerouac to Brando
"Dear Marlon, I’m praying that you’ll buy ON THE ROAD and make a movie of it….You play Dean and I’ll play Sal... I'll show you how Dean acts in real life, you couldnt possibly imagine it without seeing a good imitation..." From a letter from Jack Kerouac to Marlon Brando. (via The Rumpus)