Maybe nobody read your first, or last, most recent or only book, but writer, take heart: nobody read the work of these 10 great authors either.
Books Nobody Reads
On the Day Job
Infographic of the Week: Famous authors had day jobs, too. Check out this infographic from Adzuna to find out what J.M. Coetzee, George R.R. Martin, J. K. Rowling, and more did before (or while) they published novels. Our own Emily St. John Mandel writes about the struggle to balance a day job and a creative life.
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Google Books. Literally.
“What would be the consequences,” asks Charlie Stross, “if a large internet corporation such as Google were to buy the entire publishing industry?” Would such a buyout “amount to a wholesale shift to a promotion-supported model for book publishing?”
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A Portrait of the Artist
John Berger meditates on the life and work of Rembrandt, in an exclusive excerpt from his forthcoming book. As he puts it, “Rembrandt drew because he liked drawing. It was a daily reminder of what surrounded him.”
In Praise of the Booker
In light of Howard Jacobson’s victory for The Finkler Question, Laura Miller at Salon explains why the Man Booker Prize is the best of the literary awards.
“I think the role of the critic will remain strong even if the media landscape is constantly changing.”
Alex Ross, New Yorker music columnist and author of Listen To This, is interviewed for The Browser.
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Traveling with Orhan Pamuk
Want to see the real Istanbul? Take a tour with the ultimate guide, Orhan Pamuk. The author showed The New York Times’s Joshua Hammer around the city. Pair with: Our review of The Museum of Innocence and our essay on his politics.
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Listen to a Genius
Recommended Listening: David Naimon’s interview with Karen Russell on Between The Covers. You can also find a transcript of the interview in the latest issue of The Missouri Review. Russell just won a MacArthur Genius Grant.