This week, the upstanding men and women of Football Book Club are reading Louisa Hall’s novel Speak — and posting about (a) having their minds blown by Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts and (b) having their metaphoric hearts metaphorically stomped on by the NFL.
Football Book Club: Louisa Hall’s ‘Speak’
Charlie Sheen’s Poetry
It was probably inevitable that someone would turn the ravings of Charlie Sheen into found poetry. But unlike similar collections "by" Donald Rumsfeld and Rod Blagojevich, this one offers us the opportunity to compare it to the real thing - Sheen's early '90s chef d'oeuvre, A Peace of My Mind.
Poetry in a Box
Recommended Reading: On poetry about poem-making and the poetics of assemblage.
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Cultural Confusion
Over at Broadly, MariNaomi talks about heritage and her graphic memoir, Turning Japanese. Pair with Mia Nakaji Monnier’s Millions interview with the author.
Oh Boris
At the LRB, Jonathan Coe reviews The Wit and Wisdom of Boris Johnson, a book that delves into the satirical gold mine that is the Mayor of London.
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A Look at J.K. Rowling
The Casual Vacancy, the first novel for adults by J.K. Rowling, is already breaking records for the highest number of preorders this year. To whet your appetite for the book’s release on Thursday, check out Ian Parker's new profile in The New Yorker.
“A blood-sworn fan”
“So much of the way books get classified has to do with marketing decisions. I think it’s more useful to think of literary books and sci-fi/fantasy books as existing on a continuum. To oppose them, to suggest that one category excludes the other, always feels bogus to me.” Talking with Karen Russell.
New Eggers Story
Today's second dose of recommended reading: Dave Eggers has a new short story, "The Alaska of Giants and Gods," in The New Yorker.
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