“The author, whose novels thrum with ironic recurrences, might have been perversely pleased with this: thirty-six years after his death and twenty-two years after the fall of the Soviet Union with all its khudsovets, Vladimir Nabokov is, once again, controversial.”
Invitation to a Beheading
Twelve Angry Women
"And this is a story about what women can do to each other—why women are cruel to each other, why women don’t reach down and help each other." In conversation for Vanity Fair, Megan Abbott and Gillian Flynn talk about female rage, #MeToo, and Sharp Objects, the HBO series based on Flynn's novel. Pair with: Millions staffers Janet Potter and Edan Lepucki talk about Flynn and her novels.
Too Dark for TV
“This is a huge generalization, but [American novels] have tended not to have all the elements that make it good for television, whether it's too interior or there's not enough action. The Brits tended to write more colorful stories rather than the darkness and struggle. Dickens and Trollope certainly knew how to write sequels, books that would make good ongoing series again and again. And the greatest love stories are in the Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice. I don't know what our equivalent is.” In a piece for The Atlantic Spencer Kornhaber wonders, "Is American Literature Too Dark for TV?"
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Mark Twain’s Autobiography
Mark Twain left instructions not to publish his autobiography until 100 years after his death, which is now. Volume I will hit shelves in November.
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Second-Half Ctd.
Know a great title that’s not in our latest Book Preview? Tweet it using the hashtag #otherbooks2015. Coined by Steve Himmer -- who’s written for us -- the hashtag lets readers suggest noteworthy books that didn’t appear on our list. You can find even more additions in this Metafilter thread.
Black Bodies Matter
"All the rage and mourning and angst works to exhaust you; it eats you alive with its relentlessness." The New York Times' Jenna Wortham on self-care during a summer rife with violence against people of color.
Gilead
Recommended Reading: Willa Paskin's review of Hulu's adaptation of The Handmaid's Tale.
The Real Cuba
Year in Reading alumna Patricia Engel writes about the “real” Cuba she encountered in her research trips. Pair with Bill Morris’s Millions essay on Havana’s love for cars.
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The Handsell
Ron Hogan has set up a new website in which he recommends books to desiring readers. Check out The Handsell for further information.
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