Next May, HarperCollins will publish a never before seen J. R. R. Tolkein poem, entitled The Fall of Arthur and based on Arthurian legend, not Middle-earth.
The Fellowship of the Round Table
New Morrison Novel
Toni Morrison fans, rejoice! She has a new novel coming out in April, titled God Help the Child.
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Tuesday New Release Day: Schwartz, Towles, Russell
New this week: John Burnham Schwartz follows up Reservation Road with Northwest Corner. Amor Towles debuts with a novel of New York society in the 1930s, Rules of Civility. And Karen Russell’s Swamplandia! is now out in paperback.
The Freedom of Limits
“Limits stop you from living a life without limits,” writes Augusten Burroughs. “Of course, this is only an illusion. What limits really do is give you an acceptable excuse to avoid doing something.” (He’s talking about life, not Oulipo.) The piece is excerpted from his recent book, This Is How.
Sighs of Relief
There’s good news for all of us with embarrassing social media adolescences. After a 34-part, Pulitzer-nominated piece of investigative journalism disappeared from the internet earlier this year, it became clear that nothing on the internet is permanent. Also, don’t blame the internet for your unproductive day–that’s just you.
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On the Family
Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney introduces us to a few of literature’s dysfunctional families at Electric Literature. For a loving family relationship, check out an interview with Phillip and Lily Lopate, collaborators on Every Father’s Daughter.
Harry Potter on Kindle
Pottermore is open for business. J.K. Rowling’s boy wizard books are now available on Kindle for the first time ever.
Breaking Newton’s Heart
“Insanity, madness, obsession, math, objectivity, truth, science and art. These friends always impress me. They’re sculptors and tailors, not scientists or spies. I’ve chosen them with the peculiar attentiveness of a shell collector stupidly combining the overwhelming multitude of broken detritus to hold up one shell so beautiful that it finds its way into my pocket, lining my clothes with sand. And then another. Not too many, so that the sheer number could never diminish the value of one.” On madness and genius with cosmologist Janna Levin.
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Border Borrowing
The Haskell Free Library straddles the U.S.-Canadian border. Enter the library in the United States, and browse through the books in Canada.