A few days ago, our own Kaulie Lewis pointed readers to a LARB essay about Geoff Dyer, which nicely complemented a piece about the author our own Mark O’Connell wrote for Slate back in June. Now, at Full-Stop, David Burr Gerard suggests that Dyer’s strengths, which worked so well in Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi, may have hampered him in Another Great Day at Sea. FYI, our own Janet Potter reviewed the latter book for The Millions.
Self-Absorption
Staying Sharp
"There tends to be this idea that every piece and every assignment and every gig is always something speaking from the soul. We think that about great writers, that they’re incapable of doing hackwork." The Rumpus interviewed Michelle Dean about women writers, the research process, and her forthcoming book, Sharp: The Women Who Made an Art of Having an Opinion. Pair with: Dean's 2016 Year in Reading entry.
I Am Not a Writer
"I grew up hearing my father digging into words for images that will stretch the limits of life for my siblings and me. In my father’s mouth, bitter, rigid words become sweet and elastic like taffy candy. His poetry shields us from the poverty of our lives." Kao Kalia Yang for The Literary Hub on learning to understand her blue-collar father as a legitimate literary force.
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Why Art Matters
At the Guardian, Alain de Botton, author of the forthcoming Religion for Atheists, considers whether "museums of art are our new churches" and says "modern museums of art fail to tell people directly why art matters."
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On Tour
Noah Charney writes for The Atlantic in defense of book tours, which “mostly entail maneuvering to get on radio shows or TV programs, and less glamorous elements, like attending bookstore readings where hardly anyone shows up.”
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Racist Tintin?
Does the Adventures of Tintin film conveniently avoid the comic books' racist undertones?
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Pain Extinguishes Itself
"Not infrequently I unravelled what I had done, continuously tormented by scruples that were taking tighter hold and steadily paralysing me. These scruples concerned not only the subject of my narrative, which I felt I could not do justice to, no matter what approach I tried, but also the entire questionable business of writing." On W.G Sebald and unsatisfactory communication from The Nation.
Complemented, complemented, complemented. Please, please, please.
Fixed. Thanks!