You may have heard that Kazuo Ishiguro recently published his first novel in more than ten years. The Buried Giant, which takes place in Arthurian England, is a departure for Ishiguro, a work of overt fantasy. At Slate, our own Mark O’Connell provides his take on the book. You could also read our own Lydia Kiesling’s review.
High Fantasy
How and How Not to View Africa
Mama Hope, a group that works with local African organizations "to connect them with the resources required to transform their own communities," has released a great promo featuring four young men who are tired of Hollywood's African stereotypes. Their complaints are reminiscent of those enumerated in Binyavanga Wainaina's classic essay "How to Write about Africa," and also in Laura Seay's great article from last week, "How Not to Write About Africa."
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Charm City, Murdaland
In a piece for Aeon, D. Watkins – who previously blew onto the scene with his Salon essay, “Too Poor for Pop Culture” – looks into “the two Baltimores” he has known. Tracing the city’s history back to the Civil War, he defines the city as “a place split on ideologies because it’s too south to be north and too north to be south.”
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Gently Simmer
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New Octavia Butler
When Octavia Butler died in 2006, she left behind unseen short stories. Butler's agent has discovered two unpublished stories in the author's papers. "A Necessary Being" features a lonely alien leader, and "Childminder" is about mentoring telepaths. The two stories will be published this summer in the collection Unexpected Stories.
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Summer Oysters
You’re only supposed to consume oysters in months with the letter “r” in their English (and French) names. This is because oysters in the Northern hemisphere are more likely to spoil during the warmer months of May, June, July, and August. So if you can’t eat ‘em, you might as well hear about ‘em instead, right? Presenting this video of Seamus Heaney reading his poem, “Oysters” (Text here).
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“They’d slice you open on their own time”
Recommended Reading: “The Cage of You” by Kerry Howley.
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Some links: Penguin Podcast, Lawyers on Google Print, Chicago Literature
Penguin Books UK has started a podcast. I've added it to my Literary Podcasts post. (via)Law blog Groklaw has a good post explaining the Google Print project and the controversy surrounding it, and Lawrence Lessig has news of a program coming up at the New York Public Library on November 17 called "The Battle Over Books: Authors and Publishers Take on the Google Print Project."Golden Rule Jones has a list of this year's Chicago fiction, and at Pete Lit, Pete tells us about Chicago Noir, a collection edited by Neal Pollock with stories by Adam Langer, Kevin Guilfoile and others.