Johnny Depp’s latest film, Black Mass, which casts the star as Whitey Bulger, hit theaters on September 18th. At Publishers Weekly, author T. J. English argues that Where the Bodies Were Buried: Whitey Bulger and the World That Made Him is necessary to the canon of literature on Bulger, even if it’s the 16th book about the mobster.
Crime and Punishment
Third Way
You may have heard that E.L. Doctorow passed away last week. The Ragtime and Billy Bathgate author was known for his mastery of historical fiction. At The Guardian, Michael Chabon offers a tribute, arguing that Doctorow found a way out of the binary trap between postmodernism and realism.
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The Ultimate Goodbye Gift
“When we read with a child, we are doing so much more than teaching him to read or instilling in her a love of language." Anna Dewdney, best-selling children’s author and illustrator, died this past weekend after a battle with brain cancer. Her obituary concluded with this: “She requested that in lieu of a funeral service that people read to a child instead.”
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Who Wore It Best?
Who wore it best: Edith Wharton or Lil' Kim? (via @ElectricLit)
The Freedom of Limits
“Limits stop you from living a life without limits,” writes Augusten Burroughs. “Of course, this is only an illusion. What limits really do is give you an acceptable excuse to avoid doing something.” (He’s talking about life, not Oulipo.) The piece is excerpted from his recent book, This Is How.
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Trigger warning: Breakups ahead
Kim Addonizio's latest collection of short stories, The Palace of Illusions, is due out this month. Here is a sneak peek, the story, "Another Breakup Song,” featuring a distinctly Raymond Carver-esque vibe.
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The Therapy Fads
"We learn how to be mad, the same way we learn how to be male or female, or how we learn how to participate in society." On fads and mental illness.
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The Iowa Writers’ Workshop Turns 75
The Iowa Writers' Workshop turns 75 this year. To celebrate, a number of alumni are writing essays on their experiences for various blogs (as well as ours!) as part of The 75th Project. At The Los Angeles Review of Books, Kevin Brockmeier has comprised "A Chronological List of Statements People Made to Me at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, 1995-1997." Additionally, Joyelle McSweeney has a piece on n+1's website entitled "Iowa Occult: a Mütter Pedagogy; Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Vomit Art."
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