At Full-Stop this week, an interview with Joshua Cohen, whose new book, Four New Messages, spans “a wide geographic and narrative terrain.” Back in August, Johannes Lichtman gave his own take on the collection, as did Shannon Elderon at The Rumpus.
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G to the Gatsby
Baz Luhrmann’s much-delayed Great Gatsby film adaptation may justify its long post-production schedule after all. In an announcement this past week, it was made clear that Jay-Z is “composing the upcoming film’s original score.” The film’s latest trailer can be found here.
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Guns N’ Roses N’ Meth
In this piece on “Southern Enlightenment“, Kevin Charles Redmon checks out John Jeremiah Sullivan‘s Pulphead and Frank Bill‘s Crimes in Southern Indiana for The Rumpus. In the process, he touches on Axl Rose and methamphetamines.
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Pre-Detective
Need more than just a hashtag to get ready for the new season of True Detective? Tom Nolan is here to help. At Salon, Scott Timberg interviews the biographer of Ross Macdonald, a crime fiction writer whose mysteries tackled the underbelly of California. You might want to read the new collection of Ross’s novels, or else our list of crime novels where women are the detectives.
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Incendiary Verse
Do you love poetry, but often wish you were monitored on more government watchlists? Well, now you can scratch both of those itches by purchasing Poetry of the Taliban, a new anthology endorsed by and published on the group’s website. Unsurprisingly, the book has garnered its share of criticism, but as Melville House’s Kelly Burdick notes, it also has a coalition of allies and proponents.
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Subjected
As an Editor-at-Large at Interview Magazine, Christopher Bollen has talked with everyone from Joan Didion to Renata Adler to Michael Stipe. Last Friday, he became an interview subject himself, sitting down with Tom Barbash at Salon to talk about his new novel, Orient. Sample quote: “I know I’m supposed to have the young characters constantly on Snapchat and Instagram and every adult is falling asleep at night to a Netflix marathon.”
Whowasit
Haven’t read Agatha Christie? The Oyster Review will get you up to speed. Their latest Reader’s Guide, written by Lili Loofbourow, delves into the writer behind Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot and countless other iconic characters. You could also read Daniel Friedman on the ending to every mystery novel.
50% off at CUP
It’s time for Columbia University Press’s annual Spring Sale!