The Oxford American has made True Grit author Charles Portis’s “Motel Life, Lower Reaches” available online for the first time. The piece first appeared in an OA issue from 2003, and it’s also available in Escape Velocity, but you should still read it because it’s Charles Portis, damn it, and you’ve only one life to live in this world. (Related: Hobart just published their “Hotel Culture” issue, which is also worth your time.)
We at the Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn
Writing From Beyond the Grave
Do famous authors owe it to the reading public to publish their unfinished works after death? Casey N. Cep traces the contentious history of writers’ estates.
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Tuesday New Release Day: Fowler; Kundera; Swyler; George; Arango; Khalastchi; Makkai
Out this week: Black Glass by Karen Joy Fowler; The Festival of Insignificance by Milan Kundera; The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler; The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George; The Truth and Other Lies by Sascha Arango; Tradition by Daniel Khalastchi; and Music for Wartime by Rebecca Makkai. For more on these and other new titles, check out our Great 2015 Book Preview.
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On Optimism and Despair
“In your earlier novels you sounded so optimistic, but now your books are tinged with despair. Is this fair to say?” Zadie Smith‘s remarks upon accepting the 2016 Welt Literature Prize on November 10th, and the question of whether “multiculturalism” is a failed experiment. Read our review of Smith’s latest novel, Swing Time, here.
Monkeys and Donkeys
Yann Martel’s anticipated follow-up to Life of Pi, Beatrice and Virgil, now has a cover. Yes, that’s a monkey riding a donkey.
More Kindle ‘Offers’
Amazon has introduced another ad-infused Kindle ‘with Special Offers.’ You can now get the 3G model, regularly $189, for $164, if you opt for a version that displays Amazon promotions on the home screen and screensaver.
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