While makers of the graph admit that it’s no substitute for a real poll, according to a heatmap of political books purchased on Amazon in the United States, conservative books are more popular than their left-wing rivals. Another heatmap of note: a firm tracked the use of the F-bomb on twitter over the course of a day to see where America’s foulest mouths are concentrated.
A Conservative Estimate
Black Bodies Online
"I couldn’t help but feel that technology had circled back to some of its earliest purposes: broadcasting anti-black violence as widely as possible, as both entertainment and warning." Our own Ismail Muhammad writes for Real Life about the tension between bearing witness and perpetuating paradigms of white supremacy while on the web. And if you haven't yet read it, do spend some time with this review of Nate Marshall's Wild Hundreds, which provides some fortification.
●
●
“Put your right hand on the Kindle and repeat after me.”
The weird and fascinating history of books used in swearing-in ceremonies gets its latest entry: the new Ambassador to Switzerland just took the oath on her personal Kindle.
●
●
Degrees of Separation
Urmila Seshagiri writes for Public Books about Jhumpa Lahiri's In Other Words in its original Italian. As she explains it, “the dual-language Italian-English format literalizes the very ‘separazione totale’ that is In altre parole’s subject, reminding us, page by page, of potential losses.” Pair with Hannah Gersen’s Millions review of the book.
This Side of Criticism
F. Scott Fitzgerald called himself "a moralist at heart," which might be why Kathryn Schulz finds The Great Gatsby to be "aesthetically overrated, psychologically vacant, and morally complacent."
●
●
Everyone Gets a Badge
Over at the Observer, Brent Underwood writes on how he self-published a fake book on Amazon. He sold a total of three copies, enough for him to earn the #1 Best Seller badge in several categories. Now his fake book has landed an actual book deal and is available in paperback.
How Patrick Bateman Stole Christmas
"Have you guessed who I am? Sometimes I think you have." Is this Dr. Seuss or Bret Easton Ellis? The Awl has a quiz to see whether you can differentiate between sociopaths and the Cat in the Hat.
●
●
A6: Edith Wharton
At some point, you’ve probably had a daydream about a vending machine that sells books. Well, guess what. (There's also a video guide.) (Thanks, Andrew)
●
●
A Royal Idea
Tired of all this business about the Royal wedding? Try learning about the five easy (even free!) ways you can support The Millions instead. Ta!
●
●