I’ve long evangelized Mary Roach’s writing because she has such a knack for conveying extremely complicated information in an incredibly entertaining way. (See also: Susan Casey and Michael Lewis.) From cadavers to space travel, she focuses on our world’s most natural curiosities – and now she’s diving into perhaps the most natural curiosity of all: digestion. In her new book, Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal, Roach takes readers on a journey through their own gullets. To get a brief idea, check out the book trailer. (It’s very “Innerspace”)
Science Writing That Goes Down Smooth
In a Foreign Land
In most portrayals of Cold War espionage, both Communist and capitalist spies appear wedded to their respective ideologies. Yet real spies, as the FBI knows, often have more nebulous motivations. In the Times Book Review, Ben MacIntyre reads the latest by Ha Jin, which centers on a Chinese spy embedded in suburban Virginia.
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The Lost City of Atlantic
"The Boardwalk’s kitsch, the kitsch of Trump’s former properties along the Boardwalk, merely reinforce how retro a mogul the candidate is: a throwback who doesn’t care he’s a throwback, who’s barely aware he is, dressed to impress in a padded Brioni suit and a tie with a scrotum-sized knot." Novelist Joshua Cohen takes one last trip (maybe?) to the Atlantic City of his youth for n+1. Related: Turns out Cohen's not the only novelist who's worked as a casino dealer.
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Write Away the Stigma
Check it out: Creative Nonfiction and Writing Away the Stigma are teaming up to put on a six-part writing workshop and fellowship for individuals who have been affected by mental illness. Twelve writers will have the opportunity to study, free of charge, with the founder and editor of Creative Nonfiction magazine, Lee Gutkind. Submissions are accepted throughout the month of November.
Triumph of the Vanity Press?
Is Sergio de la Pava's A Naked Singularity the first great self-published novel of the new century? Aren't you at least a little bit curious?
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Poems to Be Whispered
“Here’s / the deal: if you die / then I will be able to / drink again & no / one alive will even / blame me.” Year in Reading alumnus Nick Flynn has three new poems over at BuzzFeed READER. Pair with this Millions profile of Flynn.
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James Franco is Allen Ginsberg
Book to movie news: Soon to hit theaters is a big-screen take on Allen Ginsburg's Howl, focusing on the obscenity trial Ginsberg faced after the publication of the poem and starring James Franco as Ginsberg (alongside Jon Hamm and Jeff Daniels). (The trailer). The film includes an animation of the poem itself by illustrator Eric Drooker. Art from the animation has been collected in a new book under the title Howl: A Graphic Novel.
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