William Carlos Williams‘s birthday was this last week, and Adam Kirsch writes about the poet for New York Review of Books. Though he argues that “today it would be hard to find a reader of poetry who would not acknowledge William Carlos Williams as one of the major American modernists” Kirsch still has to face the question, “why is it, then, that almost fifty years after his death, the reputation of [Williams] still seems to be haunted by a ghost of uncertainty?”
Happy Birthday, W.C.W.
Trash Talk
Not everyone is a fan of Haruki Murakami's latest short story, "Drive My Car." Residents of Nakatonbetsu, Japan claim Murakami sullied its reputation when he suggested that residents throw cigarettes from car windows. The offending passage reads: "Probably this is something everyone in Nakatonbetsu commonly does," a character thinks when he tosses his lit cigarette out. Hopefully, the smoke clears soon.
Everything I Despise
Can you tell the difference between complaints by Jonathan Franzen and YouTube comments about the evils of saggy pants?
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Papercuts Can Be Fun Too
Our friends at Electric Literature are Kickstarting Papercuts, "a party game for the rude and well-read." We would've pledged anyway, but this pitch sealed the deal: "It’s what Kurt Vonnegut, James Baldwin, and Virginia Woolf would play if they were alive, locked in a room together, and forced to play a card game." This Cards Against Humanity for the literary set will be delivered in time for Christmas, so keep it in mind for your erudite stocking stuffer needs.
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The Trollope Trend
Why is Trollope trending? Adam Gopnik argues it's because "Trollope is right here where we are. His subject is always politics and his material is always gossip." Pair his piece in the New Yorker with Sarah Henary's look at "Trollope at 200."
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