“Every writer needs an editor, and anyone who says he doesn’t has a fool for a muse.” The New York Times interviews journalists on the importance of editors, and it’s well worth the short read. Pair with our own Edan Lepucki‘s conversation with her editor.
“Every writer needs an editor”
History Lesson – Part II
Who would have predicted, when an unassuming history of post-punk called Our Band Could Be Your Life was published in 2001, that we'd be celebrating its tenth anniversary with concert blowouts and Paris Review Daily interviews? Most anyone who read it, that's who.
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Animated Russian Classics
Polish filmmaker Piotr Dumala spent three years working on his half-hour-long expressionistic adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, and the result is a “destructive animation” that’s at once unnerving and beautiful. However in case you’re more pressed for time, you can also get your animated Russian literature fix by checking out Natalia Berezovaya and Svetlana Petrova’s two-minute-long animation for Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita.
Unread Books
Lorin Stein, editor of The Paris Review, cops to a list of classic books he's never read. Among them: Jane Eyre, Blood Meridian, and Millions Hall-of-Famer Stoner.
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RIP Harper Lee
Harper Lee, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman, died this morning in Monroeville, Alabama at the age of 89. Lee won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 for Mockingbird, which later formed the basis of a film starring Gregory Peck. To learn more about her legacy, you could read our own Michael Bourne on the hidden character of Atticus Finch, or else read Robert Rea on a pilgrimage he took to her home.
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Choking Hazard
Check out new fiction from You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine author Alexandra Kleeman.
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Mark Baumer Killed on Cross-Country Protest Walk
This week poet Mark Baumer was struck and killed by an SUV while walking barefoot across the country. Baumer, 33, began his cross-country walk to raise awareness about climate change, and was documenting the journey on his blog (as well as Instagram and YouTube). Florida, where he was killed, was recently ranked "the most dangerous place for pedestrians" in the United States.
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Satire and Self-Laceration
At The Rumpus, a chat with the poet Randall Mann, whose new book, Straight Razor, came out last week. Among the more interesting tidbits revealed in the interview: Mann’s father was an Olympic silver medalist.
Hemingway Double Shot
Got a couple thousand bucks lying around? You can place a bid on one of Ernest Hemingway’s love letters. Or, for a more modest price of "free," you can read Tim Weed's rumination entitled "Chasing Hemingway’s Ghost in Havana."
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