Why do the British tell the best children’s stories? Perhaps because their culture has remained in touch with its pagan folklore, whereas in the United States, more pragmatic tales of morality, Christian obedience, and bootstrap-lifting rose to prominence. Also, picture books: general good thing for children or roadmap to total the moral collapse of society?
Tell Us a Story
Post-Apocalypse Now
"I’ve turned paranoid lately. When I’m in an airport, I look at the people around me at the gate, trying to suss out who might make a good ally if things went bad. I carry two plastic tubs full of warm clothes, hiking boots, and first-aid supplies in the back of my Subaru at all times. I have as large a volume of canned and dry goods in my pantry and laundry room as the shelves will hold." Rebecca Onion for Slate on the appeal and contagion of "prepper fiction." Pair with our review of Claire Vaye Watkins's Gold Fame Citrus, one of the recent bumper crop of apocalyptic narratives.
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Holden Caulfield Has No Friends
Chances are you’ve heard that in a recent interview, Claire Messud responded to a patronizing question about one of her characters -- “I wouldn’t want to be friends with Nora, would you?” -- by giving her interviewer a smackdown that resonated across the blogosphere. At Page-Turner, several authors (including Rivka Galchen, Jonathan Franzen and Year in Reading alumna Margaret Atwood) offer their own takes on the matter of "likeability." (There's also this piece by our own Emily St. John Mandel to consider.)
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Bookchat on the Internet
Recommended Reading: What we talk about when we talk about books.
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your brain is going soft with all that comedy
Vito Corleone, comedian.
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A Song of Spare Time
As you might expect, the world of Game of Thrones fanfiction is complicated, pornographic and more than a little bit intimidating.
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Is there meant to be more to this article? Looks like a draft note may have been posted instead?