If you enjoyed Sonya Chung’s interview with James Salter, you’ll want to check out this video of the author reflecting on his life, and what led to his decision to “write or perish.”
Extra Salter
Dispatch from the Jumex Factory
Recommended Listening: David Naimon interviews Valeria Luiselli about her novel The Story of my Teeth, literary tradition, and the writing process. Pair with Lily Meyer’s Millions review of the novel.
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All Bard All the Time
Since we just can’t seem to get enough of the Shakespeare infographics, here’s another from Electric Literature. This time, it’s the characters and their web of interactions that gets the colorful, 21st century treatment. Last time, it was deaths. Forsooth, at least you probably won’t have to wait long for another one.
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Letters to Gandhi
Maria Popova shares Tolstoy’s forgotten letters to Gandhi, later published as A Letter to Hindu. “Love is the only way to rescue humanity from all ills.”
Eat Your Heart Out, Fyre
Planning to attend this Saturday's National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.? The Washington Post has provided five sample itineraries. And for an entirely different, vicarious trip, revisit Mythili G. Rao's account of visiting the Jaipur Literature Festival a few years back: “To voice their disapproval of the circumstances of Salman Rushdie’s absence, four writers read from The Satanic Verses — a book that has been banned in India. They were advised to leave. What kind of real intellectual discussion could go on in a setting that had proved itself so hospitable to self-censorship?”
Wake Up Lucid
For your consideration: "A Minor," (mp3) the first single from the emerging LA band Wake Up Lucid. If you like your contemporary rock rootsy, bluesy, and earnest (The Black Keys, Jet, The White Stripes), you might like Wake Up Lucid.
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Dzanc and Melville Houses’s Independence Sales
Not to be outdone by Graywolf, Dzanc Books is also offering an Independence Sale of its own. You have until July 7th to buy one, get one free over at their website. Likewise for Melville House, which is offering a 40% discount on everything it’s got.
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Fact and Fiction
"if I am going to set a novel in a real place, in a real time, I must get all the details right. I should not put a wall around Washington Square, start the Iraq War in 2005, or claim that maple trees bear acorns. This matters because it has to do with keeping faith with your readers. If you get something verifiable wrong, why should they believe you when you really are making things up?" Helen Benedict for Amazon Author Insights on finding the balance between research and imagination when writing fiction. (Full disclosure, Amazon helps us pay the bills around here!)
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