To the debate over whether or not male writers have trouble creating realistic female characters, we can add the opinion of Ester Bloom, who argues at The Hairpin that most male writers mold their female characters according to four archetypes: the virgin, the whore, the mother and the bitch.
Small Range
“We wept. / We filled / each other’s cups.”
Recommended Reading (and Listening): “Claim – For the Ocean” by poet Roger Bonair-Agard, whose latest book, Bury My Clothes, was a finalist for the National Book Award.
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China Miéville Interviewed by BLDGBLOG
BLDGBLOG, which has “always been interested in learning how novelists see the city,” interviewed China Miéville about “the conceptual origins of the divided city featured in his… award-winning novel The City & The City,” among other things. Architects, fans of urban decay, and general lit nerds are going to have a field day with this link, I promise you.
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Literature on Tape
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, the Library of Congress has made 50 recordings from the Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape available online. Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriela Mistral, Mario Vargas Llosa, Carlos Fuentes, and others read from their work.
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Matt Steinglass Contra Katie Roiphe
According to the title of Matt Steinglass‘ new essay (a qualified rebuttal of Katie Roiphe‘s recent piece “The Naked and the Conflicted“), “Today’s Male Novelists Do Write Exuberant Sex Scenes, But Mostly Lesbian Ones“
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Simms Taback Dies at 79
Simms Taback, the children’s author and illustrator known for his version of There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, has died at age 79.
A Horrifying Triptych
Here are three pieces about horror in honor of 2012 being the centenary of Bram Stoker’s death. 1) Yazan al-Saadi’s fascinating survey of Arabic horror cinema, which is not only “about what can frighten most Arab audiences, [but is] … also a chronicle of the abnormalities and dysfunctions lacing the underbelly of Arabic cinema as a whole.” 2) Ed Park’s essay on “the audacious enterprise” of Rosemary’s Baby. 3) Stuart Kelly’s entreaty for modern writers of horror to “raise its game.”
Emily Gould and Tao Lin Make a Salad
Emily Gould awkwardly prepares a salad with Tao Lin in the latest installment of Cooking the Books. (via The Awl)
I (a male type) am considering writing a book about a virgin-mother-whore-bitch who is also an international model, ranked tennis player, and astronaut. I think it has a chance.