Continuing her ongoing instructional column for The New York Times, Constance Hale gives some pointers on the sweet science of writing for the ear.
Alliteration Works, See?
Ghosts of the Tsunami
People Who Eat Darkness author Richard Lloyd Parry's forthcoming book on the Tōhoku earthquake and its aftermath, Ghosts of the Tsunami, will be released some time in late summer/early fall, and BBC Radio put together a 30-minute teaser to tide you over until then. You can also check out Parry's moving yet unsettling piece for the London Review of Books.
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Oyster Pirates
This week in book-related infographics: "Unusual Jobs of Famous Writers," from Chuck Palahniuk (diesel mechanic) to Jack London (oyster pirate).
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The Task of the Translators
Pevear and Volokhonsky (first names no longer needed, really...like Madonna or Cher) rap with The Wall Street Journal about their luminous (dare we say definitive?) new translation of Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories.
Tuesday New Release Day: Franzen, Binet, Baldwin, Müller
A new collection of non-fiction by Jonathan Franzen, Farther Away: Essays, is out today. Also out is Laurent Binet's HHhH, from which we recently published some redacted scenes. Other new releases this week include Rosecrans Baldwin's memoir Paris, I Love You but You're Bringing Me Down and Nobel laureate Herta Müller's The Hunger Angel.
Philip Roth’s Newark
As a way of commemorating Philip Roth’s 80th birthday, the Newark Preservation and Landmarks committee is offering a $35 bus tour called “Philip Roth’s Newark.” Visitors will get a tour of “places recalled in Mr. Roth’s books” such as Washington Park, the Essex County Courthouse and “various spots in the Weequahic neighborhood where Mr. Roth was born and raised.”