It’s hard to resist reading others’ diary entries, especially when the diaries in question belong to famous writers. Now that a selection of Jack Kerouac‘s journals is being released from The New Yorker archives and made available online, resistance is more or less futile. Originally published in 1998, these journal entries span the years from 1948 to 1950, from just after the long drive that inspired On the Road to the publication of Kerouac’s first book, The Town and the City.
Jack Kerouac’s Journals
The Mingle, Part III
Mark your calendars, New Yorkers. The third installment of Ryan Chapman and Jason Diamond’s inimitable networking shindigs will take place on Thursday, July 25th at the Tribeca Grand Hotel. Come for the craic and the free booze, but stay for the balloons.
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“Depressing day”
A while back, I linked to a contentious letter between Saul Bellow and Jack Ludwig, written not long after Bellow found out Ludwig was sleeping with his wife. Now, here’s a (somewhat) less angry piece of correspondence, sent from Philip Larkin to Barbara Pym. Sample quote: “Has anyone ever done any work on why memories are always unhappy?”
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Summer Reading, happened so fast.
Now that it's officially summer, you might find yourself thinking about all of the books you might like to read in the sun. New Directions has a great list (summer of Lispector!), and of course there's the LARB's #OccupyGaddis summer book club.
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Are You Going to Become an Old Man Here?
We've all read some version of this story before. In the newest iteration of Listicles for People Just Like You over at McSweeney's, Rufi Thrope helpfully provides Ten Signs Your Name is James and You Are Teaching English at a Fancy Boarding School.
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‘A Letter in Living Color’
Says the New York Times: "We recently received, in a tube sent by postal mail, something new in our experience: a 15-foot-long scroll to the editor." (via @LettersOfNote)
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