“Raymond Chandler did not invent the private eye — Dashiell Hammett and a few others got there first. But his vision is the one that caught the public eye and stuck most indelibly in the imagination, like — in one of his aromatic metaphors — ‘a tarantula on a slice of angel food.’” On a new biography of the man behind Phillip Marlowe.
Like a Nun in a Motorcar
Amazon’s Top 100 of the Year
Amazon is tweeting its top 100 books of the year today on its Twitter account. (Thanks, Darryl)
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To Essay
“For a while, shortly after I finished an undergraduate creative writing course, everything I wrote started with an observation or a realization…I was going to be an essayist, and it was going to be awesome.” At The Morning News, Martin Connelly writes about how he lost his drive to become an essayist and the surprising thing that makes him want to start again — his daughter. For more on the power of the essay, read our interview with Leslie Jamison.
‘1984’ in 2019
George Packer asks what 1984 means in today's America, and explains why Orwell never intended his novel to be a prediction, only a warning.
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The iTypewriter
Do you use a typewriter to tell the world you are serious scribe in the old-school mold, but do you also secretly adore the comforting glow, futuristic lines, and easy diversions of your iPad? Finally, USB Typewriter lets you have it all.