A couple months ago, Melville House published a biography of Roberto Bolaño, constructed from interviews the author gave throughout his life. At Full-Stop, Andrew Mitchell Davenport reads the biography, suggesting that the preponderance of myths about the author “makes elucidating Bolaño’s biography a moral issue.” Pair with: our own Garth Risk Hallberg’s Bolaño syllabus.
Things to Clear Up
Raymond Chandler’s Hollywood Star
Next year, Raymond Chandler will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The award will be in recognition of The Big Sleep author's work as a screenwriter. Other inductees in Chandler’s class will include Will Ferrell, Daniel Radcliffe, and Julianna Marguilies.
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Carrots: Lies and Truth
When I was young, my mother always told me I should eat my carrots so my vision would improve. For twenty four years, I’ve obeyed. But now it seems I’ve been living a lie all this time. (Bonus carrot link: the most common type used to be purple, but orange was normalized to please the Dutch monarchy.)
Seriously, What’s With Those Geese?
Here's a Sunday poem by Elisa Gabbert. Maybe its first line will entice you: "What's with these geese always wandering / around by the museum?"
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O’Reilly Book Burn
U.S. forces stationed in a remote area of Afghanistan recently received about twenty copies of Bill O’Reilly’s book Pinheads and Patriots. Their orders upon receiving the tomes: Burn them.
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fragment:story
If you know what the phrase "hypertext story" means, you're likely at least passingly familiar with new media literature, which first appeared all the way back in the days of floppy disks. At Ploughshares, a brief introduction to the genre, with a nod to hypertext ur-teacher and novelist Robert Coover. You could also read Guy Patrick Cunningham on writing in the digital age.
Writing Is a Dangerous Pursuit
“We might not win. And yet we have to commit ourselves to the struggle, because there's nothing else besides struggle.” Toni Morrison talks about literature and activism with Ta-Nehisi Coates and Sonia Sanchez.