The Library of America celebrates the publication of Sherwood Anderson: Collected Stories by posting audio recordings of nine famous writers reading ten of Anderson’s famous works. Hop on over to hear readings by Charles Baxter, Siri Hustvedt, Ben Marcus, Rick Moody, and Patricia Hempl.
Sherwood Anderson Read by the Greats
Bad News
Whatever your thoughts about the situation in Ukraine, you’ll feel for Year in Reading alum David Bezmozgis, who's been writing a novel for the past four years that takes place in Crimea. After nearly a half-decade in which few people he talked to even knew where Crimea was, recent events shone a spotlight on the place, which the author had thought of as “locked in a dismal kleptocratic stasis.” (You could also read our interview with the author.)
●
●
Cities
The Atlantic asks, "Why do cities matter?" In its own way, n+1's City by City series can be read as a response.
●
●
Recommended Reading: Jesmyn Ward
Recommended Reading: An excerpt from Jesmyn Ward's new memoir, Men We Reaped. "This is the summer of the year 2000. This is the last summer that I will spend with my brother. This is the heart. This is. Every day, this is." Pair with: The New York Times profile of Ward.
More YA for Grownups
The Atlantic is kicking off its new series, YA for Grown Ups, with an examination of "The Greatest Girl Characters in Young Adult Literature." Obviously The Hunger Games's Katniss Everdeen is up there, but don't worry, Ramona Quimby makes the list too.
“You said I’d be the next Keith Richards.”
Some copies of Mad About the Boy – the latest installment in Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones series – included passages from British actor David Jason’s memoir, which was being released on the same day. Supposedly the entire thing was one big mistake. Over at the LA Times, however, Dan Zevin imagines “a juicier scenario.”
●
●
Kids These Days
“The complexity of texts students are being assigned to read has declined by about three grade levels over the past 100 years,” says Eric Stickney, the educational research director for Renaissance Learning.
●
●
New Michael Robbins Poetry
The latest issue of Poetry magazine features four of Michael Robbins’s first “post-Alien vs. Predator” poems: “Big Country,” “Be Myself,” “The Second Sex,” and “That’s Incredible!” Robbins was also a recent participant in our Year In Reading series.
●
●