“If rats then represent terror and chickens innocent striving for something approaching authenticity, humans, for Lispector, are strangely in the middle, often stricken with fear, or handing out terror, but ready also to soar or break loose or achieve some freedom or be fully alert to their fate in a time short enough for one of her stories to be enacted.” Colm Tóibín writes about Clarice Lispector’s The Complete Stories. You could also check out a Year in Reading by Katrina Dodson, translator of the collection and our review of the book.
On Lispector’s Humanity
“Surprise attacks”
Last week, I pointed to former Millions-er Emily M. Keeler’s review of Wolf in White Van, the new novel by John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats. Now, at Slate, Carl Wilson offers his own praise of the book, which he describes as “not the kind of rallying cry or dark comfort that Mountain Goats fans are used to, but a complex meditation.”
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150 New Mark Twains
Just found: 150 new Mark Twain stories, written when the author was a young newspaperman in San Francisco.
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A Book’s Debut Amidst a Pandemic
Amy Klein discusses being a debut author during the coronavirus quarantine, as bookstores close and events are canceled for the public's safety.
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Min Jin Lee Finds Her Voice
Min Jin Lee recounts how she found her voice, going from a young student struggling with the English language to a published author promoting her own work.
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Interview with Margaret Drabble
Recommended reading: Lydia Perović talks with Margaret Drabble for The Believer about feminist fiction, the Aeneid, Iris Murdoch and writing female characters.
‘Confessional Writing’ Is a Tired Line of Sexist Horseshit
“If I’m writing something about my period, it doesn’t mean that I’m not an intellectual. I can write an intellectual essay about my navel or a whole book about my period.” The Literary Hub has a transcript of Red Ink’s panel discussion on literary misfits, including Marcy Dermansky, Melissa Febos, Michele Filgate, Sarah Gerard, Emily Raboteau, and Lidia Yuknavitch. And we will never, ever miss a chance to mention Yuknavitch’s essay in our own pages about grief.