Our own Emily St. John Mandel, whose novel The Lola Quartet not only released this month but also made Maud Newton’s travel list (so you know it’s good!), sits down with Brad Listi for an Other People Podcast.
Emily St. John Mandel Sees Other People
Kubrick’s motionless images
You can look at literally thousands of Stanley Kubrick's photographs online through MCNY. I'm partial to the sets featuring the child boxers, Rosemary Williams, and Betsy von Furstenberg, but there are gems a plenty.
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Whoreallyknows?
“There are two extreme views about punctuation … the first is that you don’t actually need it because it’s perfectly possible to write down what you want to say without any punctuation marks or capital letters and people can still read it youdontevenneedspacesbetweenwordsreally. The second view is that punctuation is essential, not only to avoid ambiguity but also because it ‘shows our identity as educated people.’” Here is Adrienne Raphel from The New Yorker with a history of punctuation in the internet age.
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At Least The CIA Is Reading Your Books
The CIA might just be America’s most literary government agency, no? Not only did they (maybe) help fund the early days of The Paris Review but, according to Eric Bennett, the group also funded the nation’s most prestigious and storied creative writing program. Over on Iowa Public Radio, you can hear some details.
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The Best Book for Every State
This week in book-related internet graphics: "A Map of the Best Book for Every State," complete with the promise that "every last one will let you understand a time and place in a more profound way than you maybe thought possible."
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An Engine, An Engine
“It is a superstitious business—childish, really—the marking, or even the noticing, of anniversaries like these. Such fastening pretends that one day can be like another, pretends that every day is not, ultimately, only its own day, the only version of itself that will ever come. But 'Daddy' is itself a poem built on a bedrock of anniversaries.” At The Paris Review Daily, Belinda McKeon marks the birthday of an oft-revered poem.
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Good Movie News
This is exciting: Roxane Gay's debut novel An Untamed State is headed for the screen. Gina Prince-Bythewood will direct and Gugu Mbatha-Raw will star in the film adaptation of Gay's novel, which tells the story of a Haitian-American woman captured for ransom in front of her husband and child. Check out this Millions review of the book to get a better sense of just how great it is.
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