The Guardian picked its longlist for the 15th annual First Book Award, and it features selections from both NoViolet Bulawayo and Donal Ryan – two authors named to this year’s Booker Longlist as well.
Longlist Released for the Guardian First Book Award
A Lover’s Discourse
This Valentine’s Day, break out the Barthes and let critical theory decide the shape and scope of your sweet nothings.
It’s Tuesday: New Releases!
New this week for bookfans: Novels by Nicholson Baker and Nadeem Aslam, as well as a foray into young adult lit by Jane Smiley.
Bad from Good
Sometimes good writers write very badly. As evidence, Literary Hub has collected samples of bad writing from the likes of Year in Reading alum Isaac Fitzgerald and Daniel Clowes, who we interviewed here.
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Subjected
As an Editor-at-Large at Interview Magazine, Christopher Bollen has talked with everyone from Joan Didion to Renata Adler to Michael Stipe. Last Friday, he became an interview subject himself, sitting down with Tom Barbash at Salon to talk about his new novel, Orient. Sample quote: “I know I’m supposed to have the young characters constantly on Snapchat and Instagram and every adult is falling asleep at night to a Netflix marathon.”