Or, The Whale
Best Foreign Fiction from Jessa Crispin
Jessa Crispin offers “Picks for Best Foreign Fiction,” at NPR, including selections from Russia, Colombia, the Netherlands, and Israel.
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Unhappy Writers Are Unhappy in Their Own Ways
“They found, unsurprisingly, that blocked writers were unhappy. Symptoms of depression and anxiety, including increased self-criticism and reduced excitement and pride at work, were elevated in the blocked group; symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, such as repetition, self-doubt, procrastination, and perfectionism, also appeared, as did feelings of helplessness and ‘aversion to solitude’—a major problem, since writing usually requires time alone.” On the causes of writer’s block.
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A Portrait of the Artist
John Berger meditates on the life and work of Rembrandt, in an exclusive excerpt from his forthcoming book. As he puts it, “Rembrandt drew because he liked drawing. It was a daily reminder of what surrounded him.”
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Good Gugge-mugga!
Congratulations to the new group of Guggenheim Fellows in fiction and nonfiction, which, in addition to such luminaries as Kiran Desai and Colson Whitehead, includes past Millions contributors J.C. Hallman, Terese Svoboda, and Ben Marcus.
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Dear Diary
“Despite its brevity, the diary is an illuminating document that offers a glimpse into the mind of the artist as a young woman.” The never-before-seen diary of Flannery O’Connor has been published in Image, an arts and faith quarterly, and reveals the shadow of the writer she would become. See also: our own Nick Ripatrazone on teaching O’Connor.
Strange Bedfellows Department: Glenn Beck and The French Insurrectionists
You may have heard that Glenn Beck, sower of anxiety about Obamanomics, is also a shill for gold coin dealer Goldline. But here’s a conspiracy theory for you: Does Glenn Beck also have a stake in the modish French theoretical organ Semiotext(e)? The truth is out there, people.
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Sensible Tourists
Recommended Reading: Over at The Offing, a new story by Joy Williams describes what happens when a sad group of American tourists goes to Cornwall, England.
Yes!
There was a fishy flavor to the milk, too, which I could not at all account for, till one morning happening to take a stroll along the beach among some fishermen’s boats, I saw Hosea’s brindled cow feeding on fish remnants, and marching along the sand with each foot in a cod’s decapitated head, looking very slip-shod, I assure ye.