Nick Richardson has some fun on the London Review of Books blog by discussing the challenges of translating Lorem Ipsum, a bit of filler Latin/Greek nonsense text that resembles an “extreme Mallarmé, or a Burroushian cut-up, or a paragraph of Finnegans Wake.”
Translating Lorem Ipsum
Tell Us More About Yourself
A few weeks ago, I wrote about an event at which Don’t Kiss Me author Lindsay Hunter teamed up with songwriter Holly Miranda for an interesting reading-cum-concert. Now, at The Nervous Breakdown, the writer conducts an interview with none other than herself.
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He Means Well
The “good bad guy” has been having his moment on television. From Don Draper to Tony Soprano, America loves the anti-hero. Here’s a look at some literary anti-heroes from over at Ploughshares. You are likely to either agree with or be enraged by this essay from The Millions on likeability in fiction.
“And I know my rights so you gon’ need a warrant for that”
Just what you’ve always wanted: a “line-by-line analysis of the second verse of ’99 Problems’ by Jay-Z, from the perspective of a criminal procedure professor!” (PDF)
Tuesday New Release Day: Mbue; Davis; Kohler; Avit; Thompson
New this week: Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue; The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis; The Outside Lands by Hannah Kohler; I’m Still Here by Clelie Avit; and Blood in the Water by Heather Ann Thompson. For more on these and other new titles, go read our Great Second-Half 2016 Book Preview.
Celebrating, Not Sanitizing, Complicated Women Writers
“Somehow, in my eagerness to honor these words, I’d tamed the political intentions behind their meaning. I’d reduced my icon’s truths into affirmational pick-me-ups rather than letting them sink deeper.” Dianca Potts reflects on how to best to appreciate the fullness of Maya Angelou, Audre Lorde and Toni Morrison. We need to resist erasing their complexities in our haste to embrace them as icons or reduce them to inspirational quotes.
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