Some folks were abuzz this week about the release of all 47 endings to Ernest Hemingway’s novel A Farewell to Arms. That kind of commitment to a single story is impressive, and illustrates the author’s dedication to his work, but as Andrew O’Hagan points out in the London Review of Books, Big Papa loved no story so much as his own.
He Even Chose His Own Ending, In A Way
Appearing Elsewhere: The Pale King and the DFW Legacy
You can read my take on The Pale King – and what it says about Wallace’s legacy – at New York Magazine.
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Football Book Club: Maggie Nelson’s ‘The Argonauts’
This week, Football Book Club is taking it to the next level: They’re reading Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts and posting about Allie Brosh’s Hyperbole and a Half. If you’re keeping score at home, that means this week is All Brosh, All the Time. Also, as per usual, they will not be watching the NFL and not liking it one bit.
Not Sure
Are people losing interest in fiction that “offers more questions than answers?” In her book Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel, Jane Smiley suggested that modern readers have little taste for uncertainty. At The Rumpus, Rob Roberge asks how much this contributes to popular disinterest in literature.
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The Sorrows of Jodorowsky
Recommended: Andrew O’Hehir on a failed adaptation of Dune.
Go Buy A Watchman
In the spirit of the relentless consumerism and the commodification of literature, five hundred signed, specially-packed copies of Harper Lee’s Go Set A Watchman will be retailing for $1,500 each. Did someone say “consumerism“?
The Art of Encouragement
Fetishized rituals
Robert McCrum’s got a question for you, and I’m interested to know the answer, too. Who are the naked writers? My first thought was perhaps Truman Capote, because he wrote so often from bed, but that’s not exactly strong evidence. Anyway, here are some writers in their underpants.
Viet Thanh Nguyen and the Refugee’s Narrative
Viet Thanh Nguyen discusses the complexity behind refugee narratives and resisting the temptation of shallow representation.
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