Both Flesh and Not, a posthumous collection of David Foster Wallace essays, is now out in paperback. Also out: Report from the Interior by Paul Auster; a new paperback edition of Stephanie LaCava’s An Extraordinary Theory of Objects; and a new collection of essays by C.S. Lewis. For more on these and other great titles, check out our Great Second-Half 2013 Book Preview.
Tuesday New Release Day: DFW, Auster, LaCava, Lewis
Brilliant Friends
“There has been a growth in the literary depiction of a particular type of friendship, one that has in the past found itself vulnerable to dilution and deflection by the ostensibly more powerful imperatives of heterosexuality and motherhood.” On literary female friendships, from Virginia Woolf to Elena Ferrante and Year in Reading alumna Zadie Smith.
Marilynne Robinson on The Daily Show
Author Marilynne Robinson appeared on “The Daily Show” Thursday night. No kidding. She talked about Absence of Mind, her new work of nonfiction, about the relationship between science and religion. (via The Observer)
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Defining a Generation
Move over, Hemingway! Youtube sensation PewDiePie, as famous for his video game commentary as he is for his loyal fanbase (the curiously-dubbed “Bro Army”), is a New York Times best-seller. PewDiePie’s This Book Loves You is one of three books written by Youtubers currently enjoying positions on various best-seller lists.
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Trouble in Paradise?
Surprise: the HuffPo/AOL link-up is proving to be messy.
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Girlhood
For The New York Times, Alexandra Alter writes about girls in titles lately—Emma Cline’s The Girls, Megan Miranda’s All the Missing Girls, and Amy Schumer’s The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo, to name a few. Pair with Michael Bourne’s Millions review of The Girls.
An Infinity in Reading
“Calling yourself depressed when you’re a writer seems so redundant.” On a year in reading Infinite Jest with Anna Fitzpatrick at Hazlitt. Be sure to check out the new fan-designed cover for the twentieth anniversary edition of the book.
“Insatiable Maw”
“In recent decades the traditional outlets for individual short stories have dwindled, with literary magazines closing or shrinking. But the Internet has created an insatiable maw to feed.” Why both the Internet and electronic devices might be good for the short story.
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