This week in palaeontology: “…how did 30-ton animals larger than four-story buildings have sex?”
From the Department of Prehistory
Literature Isn’t Publishing
“In re-organizing the priorities of book publishing—by inventing new models rather than trying to repeat past success, by valuing ingenuity over magnitude, by thinking of sales as a way to make great books possible rather than the point—indie presses aren’t just becoming the places where the best books are published; they’re already there.” Over at The Atlantic, Nathan Scott McNamara writes on why American publishing needs indie presses. For more of his writing, check out his essay on Denis Johnson for The Millions.
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Alexandra Kleeman Uses Interruptions Strategically
Alexandra Kleeman discusses her second novel, Something New Under the Sun, and how shifting between different projects allows her creativity to flow freely.
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Esquire on Roth
Esquire offers a long profile of Philip Roth on the occasion of the publication of his 31st book, Nemesis. (Thanks, Sean)
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Lonely Writers
Recommended Reading: Michele Filgate on the loneliest artists of all: writers. Pair with Angela Qian’s piece on a lonely writer, Olivia Laing.
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A Bimbo, A Gold Digger, and a Fat Pig Walk Into a Bar
“The faceoff with the Tomato would be mental, not physical. He’d accuse her of being on the rag, a bimbo, a gold digger, a fat pig.” A Trump-inspired short story by Year in Reading alumna Darcey Steinke.
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“No writer needs to be all the writers all the time”
Zadie Smith in conversation with Édouard Louis for the Document Journal. “Listening to the novelists Édouard Louis and Zadie Smith in conversation inspires a kind of hushed glee, a bliss familiar to eavesdroppers who encounter sublime discourse. ” How can you resist?
Best New Blogs
A fresh take on the year-end list: Bygone Bureau’s Best New Blogs of 2010.