“At home, I dedicate occasional whole days to reading as if I’m a convalescent. The ideal place for this is the bath, where the body floats free,” Rachel Kushner told The New York Times in a “By the Book” interview. Yet just because her reading style is leisurely doesn’t mean her reading is; she discusses her love of Proust and avoidance of books known for their plots. For more Kushner, read our own interview with her or her 2013 Year in Reading post.
Bathtub Books
Weltsday
Here’s a Rob MacDonald poem about a spelling bee contestant struggling with the word weltschmerz to get you through your Wednesday.
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A Very Long Conversation
“A good marriage is, I think, a very long conversation.” National Book Award finalist Lauren Groff discusses Fates and Furies at Lit Hub. We have an interview with the author to complement it.
Big Papa Country
Brad Leithauser on being from “Hemingway country,” and Matt Pearce, on the impossibility of tweeting from there.
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Free Access to the Oxford African American Studies Center
In observance of Black History Month, the Oxford African American Studies Center is granting free online access to its archives. Simply enter the login name “blackhistorymonth” and use the password, “onlineaccess.”
Beer is a beer is a beer is a beer
“There is no use no use at all in smell, in flavor, in taste, in anything, there is no use at all and the lack of respect is mutual. More, that is more, yes. But what I want is less.” Gertrude Stein reviews Bud Light Lime and other beers at The Rumpus’ Funny Women Column.
On The Emotional Dishonesty of Having a Thick Skin
At The Nervous Breakdown, Ronlyn Domingue’s honest and thoughtful “My Horrible New York Times Review” is a must-read for any writer who’s been rejected or ridiculed lately (and, really, who hasn’t been?)
Eleanor & Park & Censorship
Right on the edge of Banned Books Week, Rainbow Rowell discusses when Minneapolis’s Anoka-Hennepin school district, the county board, and the local library board censored her from coming to speak about her YA novel Eleanor & Park. “When these people call Eleanor & Park an obscene story, I feel like they’re saying that rising above your situation isn’t possible,” she says.
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