“Terrific ham. The best. Terrific eggs. Were they green? Who knows? So many years.” In case you missed it, the best tweets from yesterday’s #TrumpBookReport trend. Pair with our own Claire Cameron‘s translation of Lauren Groff‘s Fates and Furies for Twitter.
Terrific Ham
The Pale King Is Shipping
This may be a temporary thing, but David Foster Wallace’s posthumously published novel The Pale King appears to be shipping now from Amazon, more than two weeks ahead of the official tax day publication date. Update: From the official Pale King Facebook page: the book “doesn’t have a one day laydown: stores can sell it as soon as it’s in their shop.” So looks like the book is now available everywhere. Do you have your copy yet?
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“I’m more articulate then I was when I was nine, but I don’t know anything new.”
Ryan Bradley chats with Gary Amdahl, author of Visigoth, about fiction, “reality hunger,” and the current publishing climate.
Drinking Heavy Cream
That writing and coffee go hand in hand is no surprise, but drinking heavy cream from a coffee mug? That’s a little unusual, even for Agatha Christie. Flavorwire has collected 9 of the oddest food rituals of famous writers, and their list pairs well with this infographic on writing and snacks, and with Seth Sawyers‘s Millions essay on food and reading, “Because I, Too, Am Hungry.”
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Sincerely, John Updike
“James Schiff, an associate professor of English at the University of Cincinnati, is working on a volume of Updike’s letters and has unearthed thousands of letters, postcards, and notes the author sent to complete strangers who wrote to him.” The Guardian writes about an in-progress book of John Updike‘s letters that reveals how often the writer corresponded with not only his contemporaries, like John Barth and Joyce Carol Oates, but his readers as well. See also: an essay about the personal and literary relationship between Barth and Updike.
Scrabble For Cheaters
Next Saturday I will be competing (fiercely, one hopes) in Scrabble For Cheaters, a charity tournament to benefit 826CHI, Chicago’s chapter of the national creative writing organization (founded by Dave Eggers) that provides free tutoring, field trips, writing workshops and the like to over 4,000 Chicago students a year. To support their work, and augment my ability to cheat during the tournament, click here and scroll down to my team – The Dillon Panthers. Thanks!
A Not-So Moveable Feast
Have you visited the legendary Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris? Were you aware that bookstore you visited is not actually that same legendary Shakespeare and Company? Erin Zaleski at The Daily Beast takes a look at the history of this literary institution of the Lost Generation.
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Tuesday New Release Day: Alameddine; Palacio; Semple; Lianke; French; Chang; Zink
New this week: The Angel of History by Rabih Alameddine; The Mortifications by Derek Palacio; Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple; The Explosion Chronicles by Yan Lianke; The Trespasser by Tana French; The Wangs vs. the World by Jade Chang; and Nicotine by Nell Zink. For more on these and other new titles, go read our Great Second-Half 2016 Book Preview.
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Masculine? Feminine?
An arrestingly androgyne Marc Jacobs is the subject of a startling new portrait by make-up guru and photographer, François Nars–the photo offers a taste of Nars’ forthcoming book 15×15.
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