Over at The Point, Spencer McAvoy writes about the language and vision of Joy Williams, a writer who “instead of drawing boundaries between us and whatever Other, posits language as an experience of self-limitedness.” Williams’s new collection of short stories, The Visiting Privilege, is one of the most anticipated books of 2015.
On the Limitations of Language
Can You Figure Out Dutch Ovens While You’re at It?
Is Scotch tape Scottish? The Paris Review asks a question that has to be asked.
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Seasonal Affective Disorder with Frankenstein
If this winter is starting to feel endless, take some imagined advice from classic literary characters when dealing with seasonal affective disorder.
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Against “Context”
Recommended Reading: Robert Silvers defines Instagrams, and also discusses his tenure with the New York Review of Books as well as the publication’s raison d’être.
Put a Bird on It
Jonathan Franzen spent the first half of his life thinking about literature, now he plans to devote the other half to birds. It looks like Freedom is becoming reality as he puts on his bird-watching binoculars again to discuss the “appalling” songbird hunting in the Mediterranean for National Geographic.
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Books Helping People Help People
Recommended Reading: On Street Lit and how the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless is using literature in an attempt to help Austin’s homeless population.
Zeitoun Charged with a Murder Plot
Abdulrahman Zeitoun has been charged with plotting to kill his wife, her son and another man. The protagonist of Dave Eggers’s bestselling (and Millions Hall of Famer) Zeitoun has had a spate of legal troubles since the book’s 2009 release, most of which related to charges of domestic battery. You can read Eggers’s statement on the matter over here. One has to wonder how these ongoing arrests will affect the forthcoming animated film based on Eggers’s book, which was scheduled for a 2014 premiere.
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