“And so despite my esteem for the high challenge of writing, for the reach of the writerly life, it’s not something anyone actually wants me to do. The American mind has made that very clear, it has said: ‘Be a specialised something — fill your head with the zeitgeist, with the technical — and we’ll write your ticket.’”
Why Are Writers Paid So Little, and Programmers Paid So Much?
Scribbles in August
From 1916 to 1925, the University of Mississippi paid William Faulkner for drawings he published in the school newspaper, Ole Miss. At Open Culture, you can see some of these drawings, which struck this writer as peculiarly un-Faulknerian. (Related: our own Nick Moran found recordings of Faulkner on the University of Virginia website.) (h/t The Paris Review)
Book World
“These days…the brick-and-mortar bookstores that are still standing have a loyal following.”
That Summer
Yes, “books to read this summer” lists are proliferating on the internet to a staggering degree — our own “Summer Reading List For Wretched Assholes” notwithstanding. However, few lists address the importance of a single season quite like this one by Carrie Mullins at Electric Literature, which takes a look at 11 novels that take place during one summer.
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Write a Turtle Story, Win a Turtle Diary
NYRB Classics just reissued Russell Hoban’s Turtle Diary, and in honor of that occasion Levi Stahl is giving away a free copy. All you have to do is write “the best turtle story” in his comments section before June 20th. Are you up to the task?
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Mr. E.L. James
Neil Leonard, husband of 50 Shades of Grey author E.L. James, is penning a YA novel.
Lions, and Tigers, and Fords
Recommended Reading: This essay by Muna Mire and Messiah Rhodes on private policing in Detroit, Michigan. These few Millions essays on the Motor City will satisfy your Detroit fix.
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