The true confessions of Lev Grossman, book reviewer: “There was a time when I actually believed, because I was an ass, that as a critic I was an avenging angel with a flaming sword, and that part of my job was to help rid the culture of books that were sucking up more of the literary oxygen than they deserved.”
A great hater of bad books.
“There’s your enemy in bed beside you”
In The New York Times, T.C. Boyle tells Andrew Goldman about his pact with his wife (who “rarely leaves the couch”) and his view of writers who date other writers (dim). The author came out with a new novel, San Miguel, in September.
Not notable?!
A Nicholson Baker essay on Wikipedia and its pleasures (and its frustrations), has resurfaced in the latest issue of Lapham's Quarterly.
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Bookish Man Bat Signal
Bookish men of New York. Are you listening? Good. On February 13th, Housing Works is hosting a “Literary Speed Dating” event... except they currently have a slight problem. There are literally too many women signed up for the event. If this isn’t enticing enough for you to buy a ticket immediately, perhaps a $4 discount will be. Simply enter the event code “TOLSTOY” when you buy online – or visit this link directly. Now, hurry. Think of which book you’ll bring with you. You know, the one you’re “just kinda, like, reading for fun at the moment.”
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New James Ellroy Story
Legendary crime writer James Ellroy has a new story out for sale in ebookstores: "Shakedown".
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concerning
For those of you who’ve ever wondered to what extent e.e. cummings wrote prose the way he wrote poetry, there’s this letter to consider, published by The Paris Review Daily to commemorate the poet’s birthday. It’s addressed to Ezra Pound, and it features phrases including but not limited to “macarchibald maclapdog macleash.”
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‘Confessional Writing’ Is a Tired Line of Sexist Horseshit
"If I’m writing something about my period, it doesn’t mean that I’m not an intellectual. I can write an intellectual essay about my navel or a whole book about my period." The Literary Hub has a transcript of Red Ink's panel discussion on literary misfits, including Marcy Dermansky, Melissa Febos, Michele Filgate, Sarah Gerard, Emily Raboteau, and Lidia Yuknavitch. And we will never, ever miss a chance to mention Yuknavitch's essay in our own pages about grief.
Why does that make him an ass? Makes him a hero. We are so afraid of standards these days, which explains a lot.