“POPE OF PURGATORY WOULD BE A SOLID BAND NAME.” Part two of a series in which Mallory Ortberg of The Toast reviews Martin Luther’s The Ninety-Five Theses.
A Religious Review
Thinning the Herd
Here’s a step-by-step guide for getting rid of books, also known as “the life-changing magic of thinning the herd.” Also check out this Millions piece on the weight of moving books.
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The Eternal Mystery
Recommended reading: Jonathan Russell Clark, who’s written for us many, many times before, considers “The Eternal Mystery of the Reclusive Writer” for Literary Hub.
“Linguistic loot”
Recommended Reading: Kate Manning on the “slumgullions” of English.
Best Foreign Fiction from Jessa Crispin
Jessa Crispin offers “Picks for Best Foreign Fiction,” at NPR, including selections from Russia, Colombia, the Netherlands, and Israel.
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Like a Child
‘The 4½-foot tall poststructuralist philosopher I live with demonstrates a radical mode of viewership daily. Because of her, and with her, I am able—by moments—to move out of my own natural larval state and experience movies not just as deliverers of entertainment, conveyors of meaning, or objects of aesthetic contemplation, but as pure fields of emotional and sensory intensity, almost like rooms to which one can return.” Dana Stevens on watching movies with, and like, a child.
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No, I Will Speak
“How had no one ever told me about (Othello‘s) Emilia, who, in only a couple of lines, brings down one of the most conniving, merciless villains in all of Western literature? How had no one told me about this fantastic female character who defies not one but two sword-wielding men in order to make sure Desdemona, her mistress and friend, receives justice? I wanted to rip up my diploma. I wanted to start over as a freshman and devote my entire undergraduate career to the Gospel of Emilia.” On Othello’s Emilia and her refusal to be silenced.