“A novel is a trek home from the desert, sometimes a journey you wish you had never started. Exhausting and humbling, just occasionally wonderful. But a short story can come from a deeper part of the cave.” Jane Gardam on why she prefers writing short stories instead of novels in The Guardian. Pair with Lisa Peet’s essay on Gardam’s organically grown characters.
From a Deeper Part of the Cave
What’s a Night with William Blake Worth?
William Blake’s cottage in Felpham, England is on the market for $970,000. Since Blake only lived in the place for three years, that means a single night of Blake’s time could be valued at about $885.
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Oxford to the Rescue!
Ready to have your mind blown? There is an English word that rhymes with “orange.”
“But poetry means making”
“We all use a ‘persona’ or mask, to some degree, all the time,” writes poet Robert Pinsky as he challenges the notion—widely held in English classes throughout the world—that a poem’s “speaker” is necessarily separate from a poem’s author. The latest release from Pinsky, the former Poet Laureate of the United States, is Selected Poems, and you can hear him read some excerpts in this video.
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Fire It Up
Michael B. Jordan was tapped to play Montag in HBO's adaptation of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. The project, which will also star Michael Shannon as Beatty, is currently under development. (Bonus: Tanjil Rashid on "Bradbury’s Middle East Connection")
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Tuesday New Release Day: Costello; Packer; Adler; Barry; Lent; Urrea; Gattis; Chaudhuri; Moss; Petterson
New this week: Academy Street by Mary Costello; The Children’s Crusade by Ann Packer; After the Tall Timber by Renata Adler; Recipes for a Beautiful Life by Rebecca Barry; A Slant of Light by Jeffrey Lent; The Water Museum by Luis Alberto Urrea; All Involved by Ryan Gattis; Odysseus Abroad by Amit Chaudhuri; The Language of Paradise by Barbara Klein Moss; and Ashes in My Mouth, Sand in My Shoes and I Refuse, two books by Per Petterson. For more on these and other new titles, check out our Great 2015 Book Preview.
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Goodreads Choice Awards
Make sure you vote for the 2011 Goodreads Choice Awards! (And make sure you join our Goodreads group afterwards!)
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Following Oscar
“To translate the power of Tish and Fonny’s love to the screen in Baldwin’s image is a dream I’ve long held dear. Working alongside the Baldwin Estate, I’m excited to finally make that dream come true.” Oscar-winning Moonlight director Barry Jenkins is adapting James Baldwin's 1974 novel If Beale Street Could Talk for the screen, says The Hollywood Reporter. (He's also bringing Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad to visual life as well.)
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