A Brief History of Seven Killings author Marlon James was struck by the whiteness of The Hobbit, and in an interview for Entertainment Weekly, he explains it inspired him to write his own fantasy series based on African epic traditions. “It’s sort of like my being a scholar of African history and mythology, and my being a total sci-fi/fantasy geek who rereads things like The Mists of Avalon, they just sort of came together,” James said. He’s targeting a Fall 2018 release for the first book.
Marlon James’s Dark Star Trilogy
Serial Vonnegut
Amazon is putting out seven never before published works from Kurt Vonnegut as a serial ebook called Sucker’s Portfolio.
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Red 14’s Latest Cinematic Book Trailers
After successfully raising funds through their Kickstarter campaign (which we’ve mentioned previously), Red 14 Films has begun releasing the first of their cinematic book trailers. First up is this video for Jason Ockert’s novel, Neighbors of Nothing. Look out for works for Monica Drake, Matt Bell, and Scott Dominic Carter in the near future as well. In the meantime, you can also check out an earlier video put together for Athena Lark’s Avenue of Palms.
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Working-Class Heroine
“That no-way-out is really the difference between boys and girls in working-class culture, because a working-class boy could run, or could when I was growing up.” Guernica interviews Dorothy Allison about literature as glory; survival, opportunity, and gender; and working-class heroes vs. heroines. For your reading consideration: Bill Morris‘s essay on the riches of “white trash” literature.
Very, Very Direct
Ta-Nehisi Coates isn’t exactly sure why white people love his book so much. It is indisputable that they do love it, though; Coates’ Between the World and Me is a runaway bestseller and he is also the recipient of one of this year’s MacArthur Foundation “Genius grants.”