Here’s an odd scenario straight out of a Thomas Pynchon plotline: in the course of fact-checking a review of Pynchon’s new novel, Alex Yuhas found himself emailing a person known only as “The Great Quail.”
Try Finding a Picture
“Sleep is strange”
Recommended Reading: In an essay for Poetry, Siobhan Phillips explores an “old connection” – the tie between sleep and poetry – using Lyn Hejinian’s Book of a Thousand Eyes as a compass.
Polish Book Covers
An eerie collection of Polish book cover art from the 1970s and 80s.
LeBron James, Cleveland and the Personal Essay
“No one in his or her right mind would read James’s essay in order to vouch for or against its literary quality, but I am here to do just that.” Ryan Lejarde parses LeBron James‘s “I’m Coming Home” for The Rumpus and comes to myriad conclusions about sports, literature, and what it means to love Cleveland.
Sportsballers Who Love Books
It’s not often that you hear about an athlete who hosts his own book podcast, but Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck does just that, reports Yahoo News. (Also namechecked for their bibliophilic tendendies in the piece: Pats receiver Malcolm Mitchell and retired baller Donte’ Stallworth.)
In addition to the show, where Luck interviews his favorite authors, the QB also has a book club; this month’s reads are A Wrinkle in Time for rookies, i.e., kiddos, and The Soul of an Octopus for veterans, his adult participants.
Going Hog Wild with Philipp Meyer
Philipp Meyer is a New Yorker 20-under-40 writer, the author of recession fiction American Rust and the recently released The Son, and a feral hog hunter.
A Presidential Conversation Continued
We highlighted the first installment of President Obama’s conversation with Marilynne Robinson, published in The New York Review of Books. Part II is now here. We have a few pieces on Robinson to pair with it.
Witt on Einhorn
In Emily Witt’s last piece (she got a book deal) for the New York Observer, she profiles Amy Einhorn and her self-named imprint. (via)
e-reading Thomas Pynchon
After years of resistance, Thomas Pynchon is only now allowing for his work to be sold as ebooks.