“If I was working against any existing Detroit narrative, it is the one where working-class black people exist as numbers or victims and not as fully-realized, complex people.” Angela Flournoy on her most recent work, The Turner House, a National Book Award finalist. We interviewed the author and reviewed the book.
Working Against the Narrative
Portlandia
If you or someone you love has ever mentioned a McSweeney's article to sound cool, you'll feel right at home in this clip from IFC's new show, Portlandia, in which Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein skewer Portland's bookish hipsters.
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Winter Reads: The Little House Books
Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books bring an icy take on America in winter. To Guardian reader Alison Gibbsme, "as a child, they were full of adventure and excitement; as an adult I am shocked at how full of danger they are."
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Heti and Didion, Chatting It Up
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Just Like Christmas
Good news for Catch-22 fans: a previously unpublished Joseph Heller story appears in the newest issue of Strand Magazine. (h/t Paris Review)
The Summer Rooster Strikes Back
The second annual Rooster Summer Reading Challenge starts next week with two selections for June: Julián Herbert's Tomb Song and Tayari Jones's An American Marriage. Get yourself ready with an essay about black love stories featuring Jones' novel.