“Reading fiction is one of my true loves, but essays help me to understand things about the world, the writer, and if they’re really great, myself.” Electric Literature‘s Jason Diamond argues 2014 was “The Year of the Essay,” and when we think over the collections published this year – The Empathy Exams, The Unspeakable and Loitering, among others – it’s hard to disagree.
The Year of the Essay
Dead Men May Tell Tales
"The eradication of Terry Pratchett’s unfinished works, the zeros and ones of his hard drive ground into the earth at the Great Dorset Steam Fair, is an imaginative exception to the rule." The Paris Review questions how we publish an authors posthumous works and whether there's a better way to do so. Pair with: our 2017 Select Literary Obituaries.
New James Ellroy Story
Legendary crime writer James Ellroy has a new story out for sale in ebookstores: "Shakedown".
It’s not such a Mad Mad world afterall.
Sure, the various TV recaps, screencaps, and Paris Review fan fiction will be a help, but let's be honest, how long will those last? You could get through all of it today, in a binge. What you need, my friend, is a good book to sate that Mad Men craving you'll be having now that it's off the air again. Well, here's a list of 10 great ones. That should do it. Oh, yes.
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Shriver on Kids, Movies
We once wondered if Lionel Shriver is America's best writer, and she once shared with us her love for William Trevor. In an interview with The Atlantic, she talks about not having kids and says the adaptation of We Need to Talk about Kevin "is a far better film than I had any reason to expect them to be able to make."
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A Bumpy Flight
Sick of Delta delays? Take one of Mallory Ortberg's literary airlines listed in her humor post at The Toast. “Thanks for flying Jane Air. Are you escaping for business or for pleasure? Will you be stowing any wives today?”
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