“In the supermarket of names, Gary is a box of day-old donuts on the grab bag table, sitting among the names favored by rising immigrants groups, fearless parents, and people who should be prosecuted for Naming Under the Influence. We are six behind Talon, which I don’t even think is a name. We are nine behind Issac, which I am certain is misspelled. We are forty-three behind Princeton, which won’t look good on your boy’s application to Dartmouth.” Gary Sernovitz writes about Google, “Nuthin’ But a ‘G’ Thang,” and the letter G at n+1.
The Supermarket of Names
Insert Tittle Here
Did you know that the dot over an “i” or “j” is called a “tittle”? Buzzfeed‘s got a list including that, and 24 other everyday things you never knew had names.
A Writer’s Job
Recommended Reading: Zoë Heller and Francine Prose discuss a writer’s moral obligation and responsibility to art.
Blursing In Disguise
“A dictionary is just a book, a product, no different from Fifty Shades of Grey and only slightly better written.” A few rules for making up words.
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Kafka’s Last Trial
At the New York Times, Elif Batuman has a long and absorbing article on the trial over Kafka’s manuscripts: “It’s impressive that [Kafka’s] sisters had between them four lawyers, although, to put things in perspective, Josef K. at one point meets a defendant who has six.”
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Fear Factor
Colson Whitehead has some advice: write the book that “scares you shitless.” In a recent, wide-ranging interview with John Freeman, the Underground Railroad author talks about why he wrote his latest novel, along with his methods for sussing out good ideas. You could also read our review of The Underground Railroad.
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