“Independent bookstores are intellectual centers of a city.” Our own Bill Morris, who’s currently on tour for his latest book, Motor City Burning, writes for The Daily Beast about the importance and continued relevance of bookstores in the age of Amazon.
Indie in the Age of Amazon
Defense Against Detractors
Recommended reading: Adele Waldman defends the purpose and form of the novel and balances David Shield‘s Reality Hunger against Anna Karenina.
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The Wives of Russian Masters
“Russia’s most celebrated writers – including Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Nabokov, Bulgakov, Solzhenitsyn and Mandelstam – are often depicted as solitary geniuses. But many of their works were the fruits of creative partnerships with their wives. Far from being passive typists, they served as editors, researchers, translators, publishers and more.”
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Black Independent Bookstores Are Increasing
Here’s something to cheer us up (aside from the good weather this weekend). Publisher’s Weekly interviews a few Black bookstore owners on how Black indie bookstores have bounced back from a steep decline several years ago. If a bookstore in your city is mentioned, be sure and visit.
New from John Ashbery
Recommended Reading: New poetry from John Ashbery in the January 18th issue of the New Yorker. If you’re looking for inspiration, read Ashbery, “buy a bottle of wine and stay up all night drinking it while producing an imitation” of the poet’s work.
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Ghost Stories and Haunted Histories, as Told by Louise Erdrich
Pulitzer-Prize winning author Louise Erdrich discusses her new novel, The Sentence, a ghost story that handles serious topics with nuance and dark humor.
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Thinking Through Texts with Anuk Arudpragasam
Anuk Arudpragasam discusses his novel, A Passage North, and how he relates to the reading habits of his main character, Krishan.
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