We’re proud to report that “Beautiful Babies” by our editor Lydia Kiesling and “Summer without End” by Wayne Scott were both named “Notable Essays” in the 2016 edition of The Best American Essays, edited by Jonathan Franzen.
Best American Notables at The Millions
Mere Electronic Wallpaper
Remember that time that sci-fi master J.G. Ballard predicted the rise of social media all the way back in 1977? Neither did we. Bonus: here’s a Millions review of Ballard’s Kingdom Come.
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Combing through Gay Talese’s Laundry…Sort of
Remember that preview for Death to Smoochy, where the voice-over proclaimed, “From the twisted mind of Danny DeVito?” Me neither. But if twisty minds are your thing, you should check out this page from Gay Talese‘s outline for the classic “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold,” written on a shirt cardboard. (Remember shirt cardboards? Yeah… Me neither.)
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English in India
Recommended reading: on the power of language and class, or, “How English Ruined Indian Literature.”
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Inspiration, Via Goat
Literary prizes are nothing new, but prizes that give writers real estate are a thoroughly modern development. At Salon, Michele Filgate investigates our odd new economy, in which lucky writers win leases to homes, inns and (in one case) a goat farm. You could also read our own Nick Ripatrazone on the Amtrak residency.
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The VIDA 2011 count
VIDA, an organization that promotes gender parity in the literary arts, has tallied up the 2011 bylines and book reviews from some of the bigger magazines . Granta was the only publication to achieve parity, but they did have an issue devoted entirely to feminism, so that may be skewing the numbers. The Atlantic, The London Review of Books, and Harper’s are not making the cut. While institutionalized misogyny in any profession presents a problem, gender quotas are probably not the answer.