“What’s the point of reading literature?” Electric Literature shares a video that offers a compelling 4-point answer.
What’s the point?
Draining Writing
Recommended Listening: Hanya Yanagihara, author of A Little Life, on Otherppl with Brad Listi. “It was draining in ways that I didn’t really realize until the book was done.” Pair with our own Lydia Kiesling’s piece on life in the works of Yanagihara and Atticus Lish.
Facebook’s Most Popular Titles
We've mentioned the "What books have stayed with you?" social media trend before, and now Facebook has tallied up the most popular titles by country. The results are both exactly what you would expect - The Little Prince ranks high in France, One Hundred Years of Solitude fairs well in Latin America - and a little surprising as the Harry Potter series tops the list in countries ranging from India to Italy to Brazil.
Just a Game
Recommended Reading: On playing games and the cult of productivity.
On Pronouns and Ownership
Dr. Dennis Ryan Storoshenko is conducting research for a Yale Linguistics project, looking to ask people about theirselves and their pronouns. Take a minute of your time to help him out.
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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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Silverstein in the News
Shel Silverstein is the subject of two articles this week courtesy of The Atlantic and The New York Times.
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To Go Boldly? What?
There are times when it’s a bad idea to wantonly split an infinitive. But there are other times, grammar Nazis, when it’s really okay to chill out.
This Week’s New Releases
A.S. Byatt's new novel The Children's Book has won a ton of praise overseas - it may take home the Booker tonight -- and now it's finally available in the States. Meanwhile, Michael Chabon is trying his hand at memoir with his new book, Manhood for Amateurs.
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