“In real life, we are often so bound by social convention, but at the same time we all have secret, inexplicable aspects of ourselves. The parts that nobody else sees. In fiction, we are not bound by social convention, so the things that mystify and unsettle are allowed to rise to the surface.” Salon interviews Laura van den Berg about her new novel, Find Me, which we covered in our Great 2015 Book Preview.
Rising to the Surface
Embracing the Mysteries in Beverly Cleary’s Ramona Quimby Books
Adrienne Raphel looks back at Beverly Cleary's beloved Ramona Quimby series, and notes that the books are riddled with odd discrepancies that are both puzzling and charming.
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Literature By The Numbers
The New York Times reports that the titles of every British book published in English in the 19th century (1,681,161, to be exact) are being electronically scoured for key words and phrases that might offer insight into the Victorian mind.
Translate This Book!
The Quarterly Conversation has commissioned short essays from a panel of luminaries, including Juan Goytisolo and Enrique Vila-Matas, for a feature on untranslated masterworks called “Translate This Book!” Highly recommended.
Google to launch e-reader
Google will launch the iriver Story HD this weekend. It will be the first e-reader built to be fully integrated with Google Books.
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New Hosseini Novel
Khaled Hosseini, author of both The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, has a new book coming out next May. And the Mountains Echoed will be “a multigenerational novel revolving around not just parents and children but brothers and sisters, cousins and caretakers”
“Author Loses Leg in Lagoon”
Writing the London Review of Books‘ “Diary” this week, South African scholar and political activist R.W. Johnson: “Author Loses Leg in Lagoon.”
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The Grind
It’s a source of hair-pulling anxiety for artists of all kinds: how can you hold down a day job yet commit yourself to your art? It’s undoubtedly possible, but it’s daunting enough that apprentice writers often need advice on how to do it. Herewith, six artists (including writers Catherine Lacey and Shane Jones) explain how they pull it off. Related: Cathy Day on making a living as a writer.
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