Have you taken advantage of NYRB Classics’ Winter Sale yet? A whole bunch of their books are listed with 50% discounts! Why not check out The Radiance of the King, which was recommended this past Year in Reading by Deborah Eisenberg? (And also recommended by Junot Díaz back in our 2007 edition of the series, too.)
NYRB Classics Winter Sale
It’s cool, he senses the danger of genius
John Jeremiah Sullivan spoke to the Guardian about writing, Pulphead, and “finding that island of legitimacy.” And then there’s his recent NYT Magazine piece on Venus and Serena Williams.
Why Publishers Matter
A memo leaked from within Hachette Book Group can be read as a publisher’s manifesto, or an overview of why publishers and editors are still relevant. Maybe we can incorporate this into Edan’s reasons not to self-publish this year.
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Barbie Bodies
Peggy Orenstein, author of Girls and Sex, writes at Mother Jones about “hotness,” commodification, and women’s bodies.
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‘There is no sincerer love than the love of food’ – Shaw
Lapham’s Quarterly has released their Summer 2011 issue. Its topic? Food. They’ve even compiled the issue’s entire bibliography in case you’re interested.
In Their Own Words
The translators behind books such as Don Quixote, My Struggle, and Swann’s Way talk about their translation process. Lydia Davis explains, “When I was translating novels, I would not read the text first, and that was very important to me because it let me retain the excitement of the unknown.”
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Not Your Father’s Canon
Electric Literature has launched the “Read More Women” series—a “stripped-down, feminist version” of the New York Times “By the Book” column—which will feature writers recommending books by women and non-binary authors. First up in the series is Maria Dahvana Headley, author of The Mere Wife.
Scholarly Pinterest
Are you on Pinterest? If so, you may be interested in Alice Northover’s round-up of university presses and university libraries that use the site.
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Curiosities: Busking for Vampires
Our friend “Tom” finds that music soothes the savage vampire.Joseph O’Neill explores the “wholesome… misanthropy” of Flannery O’Connor.The Nation offers up a depressing assessment of the book business: “It is a confused, confusing and very fluid situation, and no one can predict how books and readers will survive.””Why Donald Duck Is the Jerry Lewis of Germany“NPR talks to the author of the just published biography, Gabriel Garcia Marquez: A Life.Daniel Green launches new online journal Critical Distance.”Will Philadelphia be the place where the American newspaper dies?” (via)The Complete Review considers Bolaño’s Amulet.