Who are literature’s best imaginary friends?
Make Believe
“Flip him the flame”
Recommended Reading: “La Cahachina (or Pig Roast Box)” by David Tybor (Brian Engler trans.).
“These gentlemen simply had too many dreams in common.”
Recommended Reading: Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned author Wells Tower journeyed to Tupelo, Mississippi in order to investigate the man who mailed ricin to Barack Obama.
Auditing The Pale King
Two writers dive deep into David Foster Wallace’s posthumous Pulitzer finalist novel, The Pale King. Seth Colter Walls takes a look at the tax classes the author took before he began writing, and Eliot Caroom checks the facts laid out in Wallace’s portrayal of the IRS. (Related: the opening lines of The Pale King, and a previously unpublished scene as well.)
Preview of It Chooses You
To celebrate the printing of Miranda July’s It Chooses You in paperback McSweeney’s is offering a free excerpt from the book. Also see our brief review of It Chooses You and the excellent Onion article wondering what July’s whole “thing” is, anyways.
The Root of Fantasy
Recommended Reading: Bret Anthony Johnston on (not) writing what you know. His essay is an excerpt of Writer’s Notebook II, published by the folks at Tin House. (Related: we published Harper’s editor Christopher Beha’s essay in the book last year.)