There’s an excerpt of Rosecrans Baldwin’s new memoir in GQ. Paris, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down comes out next week!
Paris, I love you
The Atlantic Remembers Mark Twain
Mark Twain’s birthday was yesterday (176!), and The Atlantic took a moment to remember his gifts to the magazine, a relationship which began in 1869, and got Twain twice as much pay as other Atlantic contributors.
Como?
Here at The Millions, we tend to focus on translation as a literary form, which often leads to debates over how much a translator can change the meaning of a text. However, the majority of translation in the world is far more functional, as it is in the case of basic European bureaucracy. In The Nation, Benjamin Paloff takes a broader look at movements from one language to another. Pair with: Barclay Bram Shoemaker on translating Mo Yan’s Frog.
Smart Money
Colson Whitehead will be playing in next month’s World Series of Poker. He’s writing about it for Grantland, Bill Simmons‘ new ESPN affiliate. He’s also accepting sponsorships.
The Long-Awaited Return of Gayl Jones
Gayl Jones published her first novel in 1975. It was hailed by James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, and John Updike. Then Jones disappeared from the literary scene. Now she's releasing her first novel in 20 years.
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Definitive Proof that Everything’s Better in an Irish Accent
Here’s a recording of Colum McCann reading the opening lines of the Amazon Editors’ list of June’s “10 Best Books of the Month”
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Fact-Checking Fiasco
What do you think gets fact-checked the most rigorously: newspaper articles, magazine stories, or books? If you guessed books, you’d be surprised to know that they are rarely, if ever, fact-checked. At The Atlantic, Kate Newman questions why we have so much faith in books’ accuracy but why publishers don’t bother.
Goon Squad to the Small Screen?
Well, this is interesting. HBO is looking at turning Jennifer Egan’s Pulitzer-winning A Visit from the Goon Squad into a TV series.
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Good Grief!
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, and now is as good a time as any to revisit R. Sikoryak’s Good ol’ Gregor Brown. Our own Matt Seidel’s essay on The Metamorphosis is perfect for those craving more Kafka.
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