“The last line of Saul Bellow’s ‘A Single Dish’ is nothing like poetry. I can’t tell you what any single one of those words means. Imagine you’re a lexicographer and you have to define the word that, or how. And on top of this, there’s none of Bellow’s typical play with rhythm and language—it’s almost a non-sentence. And yet, when I get to it in the story, I weep.” Ethan Canin at The Atlantic on how Saul Bellow packs so much emotion into a single sentence. Here are a couple Bellow-related Millions links for your perusing pleasure.
That Was How He Was
Belladonna* Reading Tonight in NYC
Tonight in New York, poets Juliana Spahr and TC Tolbert read and discuss “how can we, as poets, take care of ourselves, our creative work, and the larger planetary body on which we depend?” 7.p.m. at Dixon Place.
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Down In a Heartbeat
“Thank God someone finally wrote that exact book. It’s like a bible for people who don’t believe in God.” Sebastian Junger at By the Book on Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari.
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Heathcliff Whr R U
The Guardian published a couple of fun pieces earlier this week. The first is a hilarious excerpt from Mallory Ortberg’s Texts from Jane Eyre: And Other Conversations with Your Favorite Literary Characters. The second is a collection of the top ten most memorable meals in all of literature.
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More Márquez?
Although Gabriel García Márquez died last week, there might be a new story on the way. According to his editor, Márquez left behind one manuscript, “We’ll See Each Other in August,” that he didn’t intend to publish, and his family is still deciding whether to honor his wishes.