Our own Emily St. John Mandel makes an appearance in Brooklyn Magazine’s feature on “Nine Brooklyn Writers and How They Work.” Come for the interview, but stay for the photograph of Emily actually using her stand-up desk (which she’s shown us before).
Where Emily Writes
“Turning one’s novel into a movie script is rather like making a series of sketches for a painting that has long ago been finished and framed.” – Nabokov
With the movie adaptation of The Great Gatsby slotted to come out next summer and Anna Karenina due out in late November, film critic Richard Brody looks back at some of his favorite movies based on literature and proposes what makes an adaptation successful.
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Be Quiet, I’m Reading
“Hamlet’s famous last words—’The rest is silence’—are less punning than ironic, since both his parting, eloquent gasps and his death play out amidst a growing bassline beat. ‘What warlike noise is this?’ Hamlet asks as the poison takes hold. The drums and commotion signal the arrival of the Norwegian crown prince Fortinbras, who bursts into the quiet of the massacred Danish court. From the beginning of Hamlet, we’re taught to think of sovereignty as a manipulation of sound waves.” What does silence mean in this age of constant digital noise? The Literary Hub takes a look.
Oh, Tom Drury, how I love thee.
If you’re a fan of Tom Drury (and if you aren’t–what’s wrong with you?), you’ll be excited to know that the new short film based on his short story “Path Lights” is now online at the David Lynch Foundation. The film was directed by Zachary Sluser, and stars John Hawkes.
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A New Collection on Its Way from Junot Díaz
Here’s a book that will be on our July “Most Anticipated” list: a new collection of stories from Junot Díaz called This Is How You Lose Her. The Times has more.
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Turn Left There
Francois Vincent of McSweeney’s has published his hilarious take on asking for directions in short stories. Pair with this list of forty-five of The Millions’s favorite short story collections of all time.
The Real Deal
“Now, I’m not going to lie. It’s annoying, to have to take time out of my incredibly busy writing schedule in order to spell it all out for young people, just because they spend most of their daylight hours being urged by hoary old theorists in threadbare sweaters to write experimental fiction that will never sell. But I care deeply about the young—all of them, the world’s young—so of course I am humbled and honored to share the trade secrets embedded in my rigorous daily work schedule.” Heather Havrilesky on her writing life.
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Stanford Online Courses
Stanford’s next round of free online courses includes Cryptography, Human-Computer Interaction, and Game Theory.