Nick Moran works on special projects for The Millions. He lives in Baltimore and he frequents dive bars. His interests can be followed on his Tumblr, Nick Recommends and Twitter, @nemoran3.
Translating Bigly
New Contest from Kirkus Reviews
To celebrate the 80th birthday of Kirkus Reviews, the editorial staff is holding a contest in which the grand prize winner gets a literary tour of New York City. This includes “two round-trip tickets to Manhattan, two nights’ stay at the Library Hotel, two passes to the Greenwich Village Literary Pub Crawl, gift certificates to several of the city’s finest independent bookstores, breakfast at a round table at the Algonquin Hotel, and dinner at Public in SoHo.”
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Sometimes You Feel
Can’t wait for Haruki Murakami’s new novel? You’re in luck: Slate just published an exclusive excerpt from the book. Sample quote: “No matter how quiet and conformist a person’s life seems, there’s always a time in the past when they reached an impasse. A time when they went a little crazy. I guess people need that sort of stage in their lives.” (You could also read Ben Dooley’s review of 1Q84.)
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“Which Poet Are You?”
Does love “crack [your] sternum open” or is love like the “mystery of water and a star?” Is your soul “an empty carousel at sunset?” Are you an only child? I ask because these – along with several other questions – will help Farrar, Straus, and Giroux determine once and for all: “Which Poet Are You?”
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“Freedom is not a tea party, India. Freedom is a war.”
Recently Salman Rushdie spoke at a conference in Delhi. He had been scheduled to appear with the Pakistani politician Imran Khan, who later pulled out of the event citing the "immeasurable hurt" that The Satanic Verses had done to Muslims. Rushdie, who had earlier been prevented from attending the Jaipur literary festival for fear of his presence inciting a riot, dismissed Khan's claims: "The chilling effect of violence is very real and it is growing in this country."
Between the Pages, Between the Sheets
Attention promiscuous literary types, the September issue of Bookslut is now online.
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New York Magazine Previews the Fall
In New York Magazine, critic Sam Anderson offers a list of this fall's Most Anticipated Books. (We posted our own in July.)
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Soda Series Tonight
The 11th Soda Series is tonight at the Soda bar in Brooklyn (Prospect Heights). The special reading and conversation will feature Susan Daitch, Brian Evenson, and Bradford Morrow.