Few people have heard of Iceberg Slim, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been important. His autobiography, published in 1967, tells the story of his life as a pimp, and one of his novels, Trick Baby, was made into a 1972 movie. He’s been called “the Mark Twain of hip-hop.” At Salon, Scott Timberg talks with Justin Gifford, the author of a new biography of Slim.
The Real Slim
They Put a Spell on Her
“Maybe I could find some peace there, or a husband. Maybe it would be like going home.” Katherina Grace Thomas writes for Guernica about Nina Simone‘s three beautiful years in Liberia during the 1970s. See also: Bill Morris on the Hollywood biopic.
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Saving Hughes’s House
Last-minute signal boost! You have a few more hours to donate to I, Too, Arts Collective‘s campaign to convert Langston Hughes‘s former home into a non-profit cultural center. See also: our own Emily Wilkinson’s review of his Tambourines to Glory.
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Empirical Studies of the Class System
Following the recent passing of Nobel laureate Doris Lessing, The New Statesman republished the author’s London diary, first published by the magazine back in 1958.
Some People Are Noble
“The terrible thing is that the reality behind these words depends ultimately on what the human being (meaning every single one of us) believes to be real. The terrible thing is that the reality behind all these words depends on choices one has got to make, for ever and ever and ever, every day.” James Baldwin on the artist’s struggle for “integrity.” Here’s a bonus piece from The Millions on Baldwin, race, and fatherhood.
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Rare Manuscripts on Trial
A few rare stolen manuscripts from the New York Public Library have been the subject of a court case. Melville House covers the progression of the case so far. Travis McDade writes about rare book crime capers in the recent past for The Millions.
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Culture Club
Fifty years ago, the New York Review of Books published their first issue.
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The real Daisy Buchanan
“The poor boy losing the rich girl is a common theme in Fitzgerald’s work, and the original model was surely his relationship with Ginerva King.” AKA the real Daisy Buchanan, who, might I note, looks nothing at all like Carey Mulligan.
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