“I’m here to visit the prison’s weekly book club. Six men burst through the library doors, holding copies of White Teeth by Zadie Smith.” Emily Rhodes shares stories from inside a prison book group.
Reading Unites
The Ice Is Slick
Recommended Reading: A new poem by Danez Smith for BuzzFeed READER.
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Remembering Ronan
Last Friday, the writer Emily Rapp’s three-year-old son Ronan passed away from Tay-Sachs disease. Because Emily is part of the greater Rumpus family, the site is honoring Ronan’s memory by publishing a tribute by her friend Jennifer Pastiloff. They’re also encouraging people to help fight Tay-Sachs disease here.
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Nor Poetry
Pop quiz! What out-of-print book is more sought after by inquiring readers than any other? (Here’s a hint, before you click through and find out the depressing answer: the book is not a work of fiction.)
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Mutually Exclusive
Diehard fans of Herzog, Dangling Man and other great books by Saul Bellow will be interested to learn that the author, as revealed in a new memoir by his son, once asked himself the following question: “Was I a man or a jerk?”
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Do Not Pass Go.
Christopher Ketcham takes Harper’s readers through the “antimonopolist history” of Monopoly, “the world’s most popular board game.”
Authoring Change
The Boston Globe profiles Daniel Coquillette, co-author of the first comprehensive history of Harvard Law School. “Deeming the previous attempts lackluster, Coquillette and Bruce Kimball resolved to produce an honest, critical look at Harvard Law School’s founding — and its oftentimes bigoted history.” His book inspired students to take action to retire the school’s crest.
Dough Country For Old Men
Taking its name from one of our heat-wave puns earlier this summer, the blog As I Lay Frying pairs literary quotes with pictures of doughnuts.
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