Brief Encounters
The End of One Era & Start of Another
“[I]n the world of letters, it is hard to imagine a more seismic change than this one.” The New York Times announces that its longtime book critic Michiko Kakutani is stepping down after nearly four decades of reviews.
The Times also offers a roundup of her greatest hits, including writeups of Beloved, Infinite Jest, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and Bill Clinton‘s memoir My Life:
The book, which weighs in at more than 950 pages, is sloppy, self-indulgent and often eye-crossingly dull — the sound of one man prattling away, not for the reader, but for himself and some distant recording angel of history.
This announcement was followed by the great news that repeat Year in Reading alumna Parul Sehgal will join Jennifer Senior and Dwight Garner as a Times book critic, leaving her position as senior editor of the NYT Book Review. Congratulations, Parul!
“I’ve set the bar quite high in terms of storytelling”
Fifty Shades of Grey author E L James has two more books up her sleeve, USA Today reports. One is another erotic novel, but the other is intended for young adults.
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Thank You for Your Submission
If you’re a writer planning to submit a novel manuscript to a literary agency, you might want to read these guidelines and recommendations, over at Electric Literature. Pair with Edan Lepucki’s Millions interview with her agent about publishing a first book.
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Serializing in the Digital Age
The University of Michigan Press will be serializing two novels on their Facebook account. Previously, authors such as Brandon J. Mendelson have experimented serializing their novels 140 characters at a time. He even has some tips for doing so.
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Out of Sight
On the New Yorker’s Elements blog, our own Mark O’Connell writes about Cloak, a new app which lets you avoid people you don’t want to bump into by accident. Despite the fact that Mark can see himself using the app, he finds it “ultimately troubling,” in large part because it strikes him as “such a lonely thing to have achieved through technological control of our social environments.” (Speaking of apps, have you read Mark’s epic e-book?)
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Crippling Anxiety
Accustomed to your Crippling Anxiety in New York? Crippling Anxiety on the West Coast is just as good. Pair with Sarah Labrie’s reflections on social media anxiety.
take three
Now, Vintage asks: what will be the classics of the future? (via Maud)So, I don’t get it. Did Bob Woodward have this book waiting in a desk drawer until Deep Throat’s identity was revealed? Woodward is a good journalist, but he may be a better businessman. USA Today scored a copy a week early and reveals some Watergate-era tidbits here.I got a free trial download from Audible.com, the digital audiobook store. I selected Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer. The downloading process was very quick and easy. I’ll let you know how the listening experience is once I find time to check it out.
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