One of the better reasons you should read this review of the new book Breakfast with Freud is this quote, in reference to a Lucian Freud painting: “Robert Hughes compared [Francis] Bacon’s face in it to ‘a hand grenade on the point of detonation.’”
Breaking Point
Holy Order in Remote Places
The last book that Genevieve Hudson for The Rumpus loved was James Salter’s classic of mountaineering, Solo Faces. Here’s an essay from The Millions on why Salter was one of the best at writing sex.
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The Steamin’ Demon
“Every atom of my blood, form’d in the soil of this earth, runs hot / As I wheel through this snaked monster of steel, The Steamin’ Demon.” Ride The Steamin’ Demon at Six Flags with Walt Whitman. Pair with our own Michael Bourne’s piece on how Whitman saved his life.
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Unlocking the Doors
How does Karl Ove Knausgaard delve into some of the oldest parts of his memory for his writing? "I remember every single room that I have been in from the age of seven. What I did was to place myself in those rooms, and when I started to write about them it was like unlocking a thousand small doors, all leading further into childhood," he told Cressida Leyshon at The New Yorker. Knausgaard also has a story, "Come Together" (behind the paywall), in the current issue. Pair with: Our essay on My Struggle.
The Miserable Wonderfulness of M. Houellebecq
The second issue of Chicago's crackerjack The Point, having thrown caution to the wind, tackles the prickly genius of Michel Houellebecq: "Houellebecq has published four novels, all of them bitter and miserable."
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