Daniel Handler, better known as Lemony Snicket, released his latest YA novel in October. Who Could That Be at This Hour? is a prequel to A Series of Unfortunate Events. Handler was recently interviewed for the New York Times Magazine.
The Latest from Lemony Snicket
Lonely Writers
Recommended Reading: Michele Filgate on the loneliest artists of all: writers. Pair with Angela Qian’s piece on a lonely writer, Olivia Laing.
Mothers & Monsters
“All I know was that in Paris I felt haunted, like a double exposure photograph that shows a figure and then a milky specter behind. I felt stalked by a creature of my own making, a monster that was both my mother and myself.” Darcey Steinke writes about Paris, loss, and monsters in an essay for Granta.
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Telling the Truth
“There is no such thing as a true story. I know this because my daughter insists I told her to put her dirty dishes in the sink when I know I told her to put them in the dishwasher.” Over at The Rumpus, Ellen Urbani writes about telling the truth.
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OWS: A Poet’s Perspective
Why one poet believes that Occupy Wall Street has already won.
PEN Pinter Prize
Margaret Atwood has been awarded the PEN Pinter Prize for her environmental and humanitarian rights work. Pair with a review of The Heart Goes Last.
Civil Servants
Implicit in a lot of the discussions about how negative a book reviewer can be is a question of utility: is a book review an act of public service or a work of art in itself? In the Times, James Parker and Anna Holmes debate the purpose of the review. Sample quote: “I’d argue that a majority of the reading public doesn’t necessarily benefit from the sorts of reviews for which artistry is the point.” You could also read our own Matt Seidel’s hypothetical worst review ever.
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