Out this week: A House Without Windows by Nadia Hashimi; Divorce Is in the Air by Gonzalo Torné; The Gentleman by Forrest Leo; Addlands by Tom Bullough; and Liberty Street by Dianne Warren. For more on these and other new titles, go read our Great Second-Half Book Preview.
Tuesday New Release Day: Hashimi; Torné; Leo; Bullough; Warren
The Signature Smirk of the Absurd
This essay in the Times Literary Supplement on Kurt Vonnegut‘s “strangely central place in American fiction despite his occasional insistence on his own marginality” is certainly worth a read.
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The Bechdel Test Through History
Sometime Millions contributor Frank Kovarik takes a look at Alison Bechdel’s famous test for gender bias in movies and applies it to literary classics going back to Homer.
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A Swiftly Tilting Biography
“The contradictions of [Madeleine] L’Engle’s life offer the best insights into the complicated acrobatics we perform in the modern world in order to satisfy the competing claims of love, family, success, and ambition….While the person that emerges could be tiresome, didactic, and just plain weird—why is everyone always breaking into a hymn at her house?—she could also be tender and offered real insights into the difficulties of growing up.” There’s a new biography of the A Wrinkle In Time author out, and The New Republic examines her life’s many complexities and, well, wrinkles.
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Face Off: Kardashian/Kahlo
“Where does the line between the self-portrait and the selfie fall? Both Kardashian West and Kahlo are masters of the form—suggesting that perhaps there is no clear line at all.” Anyone who puts Frida and Kim together in an essay, as Sarah Murray has for The Rumpus, has our full and enthusiastic support. Also relevant: Alizah Salario‘s piece about the naming of North West.
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Moments of Being
In an essay for TriQuarterly Lia Purpura writes about Virginia Woolf‘s “moments of being” and their importance for contemporary writing. “Woolf’s particular flavor of modernism is rooted in the drive to gather, hold, and deepen moments, to make the shimmering moment of perception the base upon which “reality” rests. Her sensibility honors the fleeting, fragile instances of a person’s life.”
Advice from a Man-Bear
Gary Socquet over at The Nervous Breakdown has published an online advice column, answered by a part-man, part-bear. (via)
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The World According to Junot
“There’s a deep tendency in our society to view mainstream status quo literature as having no politics, which is completely untrue. It has a very strong political value; it just happens to be conservative.” Junot Díaz drops some knowledge in an interview with Vox. Pair with his Millions Interview from a few years back.
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Yes, Liberty Street by Dianne Warren. Readers of Brooklyn or Stoner or Alice Munro should seek out this terrific novel. The author is unknown here and the jacket is perfectly awful — pandering picture and ‘sexy’ font that literary readers would shun — but inside is a smart, surprising, and deeply moving story far more deserving than the fall’s overhyped stars.