Did the real-life family of Edgar Wiggin Francisco III inspire some of William Faulkner’s writing? Did a group of scholars try to suppress inquiry into the matter?
Faulkner’s Inspiration; Scholar’s Denial
D) All of the Above
"I guess the book could be read also as poetry, but I just didn’t want to define this book, I didn’t want to put it under any label." The Rumpus interviews Chilean author Alejandro Zambra about his newest book, Multiple Choice. And if you want more Zambra – and believe us, you do – we interviewed him too back in 2011.
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A Bumpy Flight
Sick of Delta delays? Take one of Mallory Ortberg's literary airlines listed in her humor post at The Toast. “Thanks for flying Jane Air. Are you escaping for business or for pleasure? Will you be stowing any wives today?”
Bad News/Good News
N+1 - we repeat - is not putting its archives online, as we surmised from a too-quick perusal of its new website. (We regret the error. Post in haste, repent at leisure.) But it might, for $75,000.
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So I’m Reading with an Axe Murderer
Matt Seidel has a helpful guide for book clubs across the country: How To Tell If Someone In Your Book Club Is a Homicidal Maniac. One possible clue? He contributes to the Water for Elephants discussion by “telling anecdotes about torturing animals as a child.”
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Next time I’d like a literary juice box too.
Yesterday Maria Popova, aka the mastermind behind Brain Pickings, launched her latest project: Literary Jukebox. I'm definitely gonna recommend this to Nick Moran for his next Great Tumblr Taxonomy.
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13 Reasons Why Not
“It would be hard for anybody who has dealt with suicide to not have a heightened awareness of things, to perhaps be a little more cautious about things.” A Colorado school district has officially pulled the book 13 Reasons Why out of circulation, reports The New York Post; not surprisingly, some librarians are rankled. Pair with this case against book banning, which focuses on number 15 on the list of 100 most challenged books released by the ALA, Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye.
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The Story Behind the Photo
The Guardian has the interesting story behind the arresting photo of Prince Charles and Camilla being harassed by protesters that appeared on the front page of The New York Times and other newspapers around the world today. (via)
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On Hunger
Alexander Chee has a stunning new story in Guernica. He writes, "I wanted to eat and so I learned to sing...It took more than a witch to make a singer out of me." Pair with Claire Cameron’s Millions interview with the author about his new novel, The Queen of the Night.