The world isn’t exactly wanting for character studies of Captain Ahab, but Chris Power manages to come up with a novel analysis of the character in this essay about the Moby-Dick antagonist. In Power’s telling, Ahab was valuable in part for what he told us about the 20th century — namely, he foreshadowed the dictators and despots to come. You could also read Hester Blum’s contribution to this essay about the best American novels.
Proto-Stalin
Blogging the Caine Prize
The first installment in a series of bloggers reading through the shortlist of the Caine Prize for African Writing, Aaron Bady looks at Rotimi Babutunde’s Bombay Republic [pdf]. A full list of participating bloggers is available at the bottom of Bady’s post.
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Poetry Haters
Ben Lerner and Cody Delistraty discuss why so many people (rightfully) hate poetry. Pair with this Millions piece on poetry for people who hate poetry.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s Occupy Lessons
Does Washington D.C. still have enough revolutionary spirit to drive the Occupy movement to the impossible-to-ignore phase of Resurrection City? Even after Martin Luther King Jr.’s death, his message of economic equality presses on.
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Do They Accept Curiosities?
Experimental literary magazine theNewerYork wants to “screw with your head.” They also want you to submit “short but challenging pieces” for publication.
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“Their judgment of themselves was remorseless.”
Recommended Reading: Matt Jakubowski’s short story, “Sharpening the Sickle to Shame the Scythe,” which I dare you to say out loud several times in a row.
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Who doesn’t love to hit happy hour after work?
Christine Sismondo believes bars deserve more credit for “produc[ing] a particular type of public sphere in colonial America.” She discusses her new book America Walks Into a Bar with The Smithsonian’s Rebecca Dalzell.
DWF – Dating While Feminist
Samhita Mukhopadhyay’s new book Outdated: How Dating is Ruining Your Love Life starts a public conversation about the pitfalls of Dating While Feminist (DWF).
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“I know what’s next— / the horns, the hymns.”
Recommended Reading: “Epistrophy” by Jake Adam York, who passed away last December.
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