There might be a prequel to The Shining in the works. I wonder if it’ll be more like this.
Here’s Johnny!
“but for now it’s dust in our teeth”
Recommended Reading: "Appalachian Farewell" by Mark Wagenaar.
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Rereading
"I’ve come to understand that I’ll rarely experience that first rush of discovery again, and perhaps that’s the problem with re-reading. It reminds us both of where we’ve been and where we can’t go again." Sarah Seltzer wonders why do we reread books as children but not as adults? Pair with Lisa Levy's essay on "The Pleasures and Perils of Rereading."
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Obrigada, Senhora
Read a lot of Granta? Want to hang out with Brazilians? The magazine is hosting a number of events to celebrate its cool new collection.
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Family Matters
Piggybacking off a brief aside in Ian Frazier’s new review of James Agee’s Cotton Tenants, Claire Kelley explores an odd and intriguing question: was Agee related to Walt Whitman? (Related: Mallory Ortberg on the probability that Whitman did the dirty with Oscar Wilde.)
Lydia Davis Reads
Recommended Reading: Four stories by Lydia Davis.
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And the Award for Lifetime Achievement Goes to
"His life's work, and his stunning prose, teaches us to better understand political influence, American democracy, and the true power of biography." The National Book Foundation just announced Robert Caro as this year's recipient of the National Book Awards lifetime achievement medal. Definitely pair with this piece by our own Michael Bourne on Caro's epic literary ambitions.