Here’s a rare recording of Ezra Pound reading his work.
Listen Up!
Looking Grim
You could spend a long car ride thinking about about all of the books that are currently outselling Rand Paul’s newest, Our Presidents & Their Prayers: Proclamations of Faith by America’s Leaders. According to data obtained from Nielsen BookScan, Paul’s book has sold less than 500 copies in two weeks. For reference, the end of Michelle Bachmann’s ill-fated 2012 presidential campaign was foreshadowed by her book, Core of Conviction, selling just a few thousand copies in the same time that it has taken Paul’s to sell hundreds.
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The Case for Picture Books for All Ages
Amitava Kumar makes a case for more images to appear in literature for adults, as tools to prompt questions and multiple interpretations.
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The Familiar Foreigner
“Familiar, well-behaved stories are dressed in nice book covers and sent to our bookstores; from there they march to our homes in an orderly manner.” On Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and how publishing understands the immigrant narrative. Pair with our review of Adichie’s second novel, Half of a Yellow Sun.
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He’s at a Loss
Guess which famous novelist and new Twitter user got 19,000 retweets for the following: “On Twitter at last, and can’t think of a thing to say. Some writer I turned out to be.” (Hint: his last name rhymes with “sing.”)
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