“Legal writing, save for the prose of a precious few lawyers and judges, has rarely contributed to the literary enterprise. Yet there are times when legal proceedings have helped the public at large to reconsider the experience of reading in commercial, emotional, and intellectual terms.” Ian Crouch on the odd experience of reading the statements of Lance Armstrong.
His Tone is Defensive
Publishing Dystopia?
Scott Esposito looks into Jesse Ball‘s The Curfew and sees evidence of the limitations of minimalism…and marketing.
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Back to School
The Guardian has a list of its five favorite on-campus novels, including Jeffrey Eugenides‘ The Marriage Plot, which we ran an excerpt of back when it came out, and Donna Tartt‘s The Secret History, whose connections to the academy we’ve also explored on the site.
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Creating Markers of the Moment with Sanjena Sathian
Sanjena Sathian discusses why she chooses to use concrete pop culture references that ground her work to our current time period.
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A Titillating Read
The new book by Alain de Botton, How to Think More About Sex, addresses exactly what you’d think it would based on a glance at its title. According to de Botton, the word “sexy,” at base, refers to people or things which mimic our deeply-held values. At Brain Pickings, you can read more excerpts.
Nadia Owusu on Validating Each Other’s Experiences
Author Nadia Owusu gives voice to the grief of people of color—grief that is so often silenced, especially in the workplace.
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