Twelve days after Gustave Flaubert died, a friend cataloged the writer’s personal effects. 48,311 days later, Joanna Neborsky illustrated them.
A Drawn Out Illustration
First Lines of the New David Mitchell
Here are the first lines of the new David Mitchell novel, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, forthcoming in July: “‘Miss Kawasemi?’ Orito kneels on a stale and sticky futon. ‘Can you hear me?’ In the rice paddy beyond the garden, a cacophony of frogs detonates. Orito dabs the concubine’s sweat-drenched face with a damp cloth.”
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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).
Best Illustrated Children’s Books
Look, we know it’s nice to read highbrow literary fiction all the time, but sometimes you need a break. Luckily, here is a helpful list of the best illustrated children’s books of 2016 from the folks over at The New York Times.
Will the Real Philip Roth Please Stand Up?
Breaking news: turns out Philip Roth doesn’t actually have a Twitter account.
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New York City Reading
This week in infographics: Epic Reads has created a Book Nerd’s Guide to New York City, complete with books set in the city, bookstores, reading spots, and authors who call the city home. Pair with The Millions’s walking tour of New York’s independent bookstores.
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The Other Arts
Six novelists discuss their second-favorite art forms (after writing, of course). Before you click, see if you can guess which one of these folks is most interested in opera: Kazuo Ishiguro, Lavinia Greenlaw, John Lanchester, Alan Werner, Sarah Hall and Colm Tóibín.
Literature By The Numbers
The New York Times reports that the titles of every British book published in English in the 19th century (1,681,161, to be exact) are being electronically scoured for key words and phrases that might offer insight into the Victorian mind.
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“I have a lot of feelings about the meeting.”
I highly recommend reading Jennifer Gilmore’s emotional essay on meeting “the birth mother.”