Elementary, My Dear Cosplayers
“Life around the pool”
Recommended Reading: Colm Tóibín on a new biography of the artist David Hockney.
NYRB Classics Winter Sale
Winter officially ends on March 19th, but you can take advantage of the NYRB Classics “Winter Sale” until March 25th. With 50% discounts on 65 books, your tax refund check might’ve just written itself off.
Comicanon
BH Shepherd rounds up five comics (such as Maus and Watchmen) he’d include in the literary canon.
Dear World
Heidi Julavits credits her habit of keeping a diary with convincing her that writing might be a viable career path. In her new book, The Folded Clock, she returns to the format of her childhood, crafting a lengthy diary meant to stand on its own as a narrative. In the Times, Eula Biss reads the book and reflects on our notions of the self. Related: Rachel Signer on the Julavits/Sheila Heti/Leanne Shapton project Women in Clothes.
What’s Your Favorite?
Earlier this week, I told you about a few lists of some really great poetry from 2015. In keeping with the poetic spirit, here’s another fantastic piece from The New York Times in which everyone from Ta-Nehisi Coates to Elena Ferrante talk about their favorite poems of all time.
Rote She Wrote
At The NYT Mag, Virginia Heffernan‘s “Drill, Baby, Drill” explores the possibility that drills and memorization might not be quite as oppressive as some of the kinder, gentler pedagogues of our time suggest and offers a list of aps to help aspiring rote learners (Nota Bene: VerseByHeart).