Finalists for the Center For Fiction’s First Novel Prize—including Sophie McManus, Ben Metcalf, Lori Ostlund, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Chigozie Obioma, Tanwi Nandini Islam, and Angela Flournoy—discuss the books that made them the writers they are today. Pair with our own Nick Ripatrazone’s recent article on authors’ favorite childhood books.
Reading the Past
Democracy Sausage
"[T]he term was first recorded in 2012, but its use increased significantly during the federal election this year, especially with the popularity of several websites set up to help voters find polling stations with sausage sizzles." Australia's word of the year is "democracy sausage," reports The Canberra Times. Other national choices, according to Mental Floss: postfaktisch, or "post-truth" in Germany, and the 52-letter-long Bundespraesidentenstichwahlwiederholungsverschiebung, or “postponement of the repeat runoff of the presidential election” in Austria.
The Art of Blurbing
At the Guardian Book Blog, Anthony Horowitz wonders "who's helping who in the cover blurb game." We of course recommend pairing his article with Alan Levinovitz's Brief History of Blurbs from last year.
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Two New Elmore Leonard Stories
Byliner has published two never-before-seen stories by the late Elmore Leonard. The first story, “The Trespassers,” follows a pair of hunters, while the second focuses on a whiskey-swilling priest who gets involved in a showdown in the Wild West. (You should also read our own Bill Morris on the qualities that made Leonard a special writer.)
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