In case you missed it, this past weekend The New York Review of Books likely outed the author who’s been writing under the nom de plume of Elena Ferrante. Condemnation was fast and furious, including pieces by n+1 and this fantastic Twitter thread by critic Lili Loofbourow. We join the chorus of voices who would rather direct the attention back to Ferrante’s work. Might we suggest starting with this piece about The Neapolitan Quartet‘s subversive power?
Ferrante Furor
Sleepover Party
"People who grew up loving From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler and Night at the Museum can now get pretty close to fulfilling their dream of spending the night surrounded by classic books and artworks." Condé Nast Traveler reports on the hotel at Gladstone's Library in Wales in Hawarden, Flintshire, where guests can sleep in one of 26 rooms with access to the stacks until 10 p.m.
Tuesday New Release Day: Abbott, Powell, Stedman, Wagner
Megan Abbott's Dare Me is out today. Learn more about her in an essay we published a year ago. Also out are You & Me by Padgett Powell, ML Stedman's debut novel The Light Between the Oceans, and Dead Stars by L.A. great Bruce Wagner.
Real Life Rosebud
Last month, we got the gossip from Orson Welles. This month, the dirt is about him. His first film, Too Much Johnson, was recently rediscovered in Italy.
●
●
Once Upon a Time In Japan
You will not want to miss this possibly true ghost story from David Mitchell over at LitHub. This piece comes from the first installment of Freeman’s, which is out now, and which includes such fantastic writers as Mitchell, Haruki Murakami, and Louise Erdrich.
We Can’t Make This Up
If you thought Cameron Diaz's windshield sex scene in The Counselor was weird, things just got weirder for Cormac McCarthy. His ex-wife was arrested for pulling a gun out of her vagina after a domestic dispute about aliens escalated. Pair with: Our essay on McCarthy's foray into screenwriting.
Aisle Nine
Recommended Reading: “Voices of the Walmart.”
Tuesday New Release Day: Amis, LaValle, Auster, Fesperman, Pylväinen, Coplin
American readers can now get their hands on the latest from Martin Amis, Lionel Asbo: State of England. Also out this week: The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle, Paul Auster's memoir Winter Journal, Dan Fesperman's spy novel The Double Game, and a pair of debuts, Hanna Pylväinen's We Sinners and Amanda Coplin's The Orchardist.
●
●
The Good Lord Bird Goes Hollywood
Jaden Smith is going from an action movie career to starring in an adaptation of James McBride's National Book Award-winning The Good Lord Bird. Liev Schreiber will play John Brown. If you're unsure about casting a rapper to play the protagonist, take it up with McBride, who is also producing the film.
●
●