In the introduction to her interview with the author, the inimitable Parul Sehgal described Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s latest novel, Americanah, as “a thrilling and risky piece of writing that takes on taboos, shatters pieties, and combines forthright prose, subversive humor, and a ripping good story.” If that doesn’t sell you, I don’t know what will.
Sehgal and Adichie in Conversation
Girls To The Front
In riot grrl news, here’s an interview with Corin Tucker, formerly of Sleater-Kinney, over at The Rumpus.
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Education in America
In The New York Review of Books, Anthony Grafton has a long piece on the issues facing the American university system. I’ve previously linked to Malcolm Harris‘ excellent n+1 piece on the “higher education bubble,” but this infographic vividly illustrates that same inflation.
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Out of Nowhere
Recommended Reading: Gavin Tomson on Nell Zink’s The Wallcreeper.
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Greenwell’s Debut
“What Belongs to You is a haunting, gorgeous, and fierce debut, capturing desire in every sentence—holding the space of what we long for and what can never truly be ours.” The Rumpus reviews Garth Greenwell’s debut novel. To compare and contrast, pair with our review of the novel.
“Yeah, American, boom boom”
In a head-scratching piece of writing for the New Statesman, Dave Eggers (whose novel The Circle just cracked our Top Ten) reflects on a cross-country drive he took from Jeddah to Riyadh. The journey, and in particular a comment made by his chauffeur, caused Eggers to ponder the significance of his nationality, his ability to perceive danger, and the intentions of others. The short of it: Some people from other countries are nice. Who knew?
63 years and 1 day
The Catcher in the Rye is 63 years and 1 day old today and PBS has published an infographic tracing the novel’s complicated route to publication. Pair with Millions essays about rereading Salinger and his three leaked stories.
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New York City Reading
This week in infographics: Epic Reads has created a Book Nerd’s Guide to New York City, complete with books set in the city, bookstores, reading spots, and authors who call the city home. Pair with The Millions’s walking tour of New York’s independent bookstores.
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