What have you found in your grandparents’ attics lately? Bet it wasn’t a signed copy of Frankenstein.
It Was A Dark and Stormy Night
The VQR’s Winter Issue Is Here
If for some unspeakable reason you didn’t follow my advice when I urged you to subscribe to the VQR over a year ago, then perhaps you need more convincing. Enter: Ron Charles. He’s got a brief preview of the magazine’s Winter Issue, which hit shelves this week, and which contains an essay based on Natasha Trethewey’s Library of Congress speech.
Airport Casualties
“I would venture to assume that all Muslim Americans felt the weight of this paradox in the years after September 11th, and never more so than when at the airport.” On the post-9/11 world, over at The Rumpus.
On Better Halves (or Twentieths)
Wondering what it’s like to have twenty different personalities? Kim Noble can tell you — she’s published a memoir on the topic.
New Releases: Crichton, Jin, Bolaño
This week brings the release of Michael Crichton’s posthumously published tale of the high seas, Pirate Latitudes and A Good Fall, a new collection of stories by Ha Jin. Also out recently is Melville House’s Roberto Bolaño: The Last Interview.
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Dyer on ‘Reader’s Block’
A rare Geoff Dyer essay, previously unpublished in the U.S., on the curse of reader’s block, excerpted from the forthcoming Otherwise Known as the Human Condition.
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History as Memoir, Memoir as History
It’s impossible to deny that memoir writing is having a bit of a moment, as more and more major books delve deeply into authors’ lives for material (here’s looking at you, Knausgaard). But what happens when memoir meets straight history? According to The Canadian Press, both genres only become more interesting. “[People] think non-fiction is just boring, fuddy-duddy history books, [but] if you look at Canadian literature right now, non-fiction is incredibly exciting.”
Round One is In the Books
As round one of the Tournament of Books wraps up, The Morning News offers some statistical analysis as well as some commentary that addresses the competition and controversies thus far. Round two commences next week!