“Like characters in a somewhat less swashbuckling Jack London novel, these are all characters, and writers, who are grappling with their environments.” Our own Lydia Kiesling writes for Salon about the “caucasian, Ivy-educated writers of literary fiction set in Brooklyn” and the novels they’re producing, particularly the just-released-yesterday Friendship by Emily Gould.
The new Brooklyn novel
Tuesday New Release Day: Poehler; Gibson; Faber; Farah; Binchy; Paul
Parks and Recreation star Amy Poehler has a new book on shelves this week, as does William Gibson. Also out: The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber; Hiding in Plain Sight by Nuruddin Farah; a new collection of Maeve Binchy’s Irish Times columns; and a hardcover compilation of entries in the NYT’s By the book series. For more on these and other new titles, check out our Great Second-half 2014 Book Preview.
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Table 4 Today
When restauranteur Elaine Kaufman was alive, she gave writers a refuge at her favorite spot, Table 4. Even though the restaurant and Kaufman are long gone, her memory and devotion to writers live on with the Table 4 Writers Foundation. The foundation gives out $2,500 grants to writers at a gala at the New York Athletic Club on March 27. The 2013 winners include, "Bound" by Karen Yin, "Gotham Mexico" by Danny Thiemann, "Kim of Noho" by Kurt Pitzer, "Parkside" by Jennie Yabroff, and "Rent Control" by Matthew Perron. Additionally, several of Elaine's regulars will be honored, including Mary Higgins Clark, Carol Higgins Clark, Stuart Woods, Chazz Palminteri, and Richard Dreyfuss.
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Books Helping People Help People
Recommended Reading: On Street Lit and how the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless is using literature in an attempt to help Austin's homeless population.
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A Writer’s Writer
Amber Sparks investigates why short stories are overlooked. She writes, “Most people really don’t like short stories. And that includes lots of critics, who often seem to regard short story collections as a warm-up for the real thing.” Pair with Paul Vidich’s Millions piece about the future of the short story.
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Rosenbaum on Nabokov’s Laura
Slate's Ron Rosenbaum talks with Brooke Gladstone of NPRs On the Media about posthumous publishing, specifically Nabokov, but also Kafka and in general.
$pending the $tephen King Money
What do you do when Stephen King uses the same title on one of his books as you used on yours (which came out earlier)? You reap the rewards of mistaken Amazon purchases, and you document the spoils of those royalty checks.
Just let it be weird.
Mark Mann on going to the gallery and looking at art: "The fact is, nobody knows what art is or why people make it. This is blatantly disturbing."