Take a break from watching the snowboarding and skating at the Winter Olympics, and read some Russian literature instead. At NPR, Andrew D. Kaufman recommends three books to learn more about the Caucasus. For more on Russian literature, read our own Nick Moran’s essay on duels in Russian fiction.
From Russia with Love
Supermachine Calls It Quits
R.I.P. Supermachine. After a terrific run, its last issue will be released on November 16th. If you’re in the Brooklyn area, there are a couple of final events you should attend. As editor Ben Fama writes, “come throw down with us one last time.”
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Cultural Moments
“It took me ten years (four of writing, six of rewriting) to complete The Listener. Now ‘trans is trending,’ and the book has been published into this particular cultural moment, one I could never have envisioned twelve years ago.” Rachel Basch discusses writing in the context of social change at Lit Hub. Pair with our own Sonya Chung’s piece on literary activism.
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A New Native American Epic
There There by Tommy Orange is one of our most anticipated books of the year. It debuts next week and this week Orange receives the New York Times treatment along with a few other rising star indigenous writers in an excellent profile. “Mr. Orange is part of a new generation of acclaimed indigenous writers from the United States and Canada who are publishing groundbreaking, formally innovative poetry, fiction and prose, shattering old tropes and stereotypes about Native American literature, experience and identity. Their ranks include poets like Layli Long Soldier, Natalie Diaz, Joshua Whitehead and Tommy Pico, and the essayists and memoirists Elissa Washuta and Terese Marie Mailhot.
Not What You Said Before
A couple weeks ago, Matt Ashby and Brendan Carroll argued in a Salon piece that David Foster Wallace, who wrote an essay about the television and irony back in the early ‘90s, presciently diagnosed the danger of snark in our own age. Now Peter Finocchiaro, a senior editor at Salon, argues instead that we need irony more than we ever have. You could also read A-J Aronstein’s notes from the DFW Symposium.
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As Bad As The Worst
Believe it or not, there may be a connection between Walt Whitman and US drones.
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Excerpt from The Lola Quartet
Joyland’s got a sweet excerpt from our own Emily St. John Mandel’s latest novel, The Lola Quartet.
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Not Named Knausgaard
Think Knausgaard is the only Norwegian writer worth knowing? Think again. Lit Hub has a roundup of “Five Great Norwegian Writers Not Named Knausgaard.”