Out this week: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid; South and West: From a Notebook by Joan Didion; All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg; Ill Will by Dan Chaon; The Accusation by Bandi; The Night Ocean by Paul La Farge; and American Berserk by our own Bill Morris. For more on these and other new titles, go read our most recent book preview.
Tuesday New Release Day: Hamid; Didion; Attenberg; Chaon; Bandi; La Farge; Morris
A Rap on Race
Check out this conversation between Margaret Mead and James Baldwin on race, guilt, and responsibility.
The Rooster Crows
The Morning News has announced the judges for its annual Tournament of books. The Millions is represented again this year. The Tournament shortlist has also been announced, so start handicapping!
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“He was always doing so”
The book Wretched Writing is exactly what you think it is: a compendium of artless puns, dead metaphors and drama-turned-accidental-comedy. At The American Spectator, Matthew Walther takes a tour.
The Me Bird, Animated
18bis, a design and animation studio located in Rio de Janeiro, has animated Pablo Neruda’s homonym poem, “The Me Bird.” Laughing Squid has more information, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at how the video was made.
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A Cure for Writer’s Block
“Don’t discount the two greatest cures for [writer’s] Block: plagiarism and suicide.” Joshua Cohen dispenses some curious advice to writers at Ask the Paris Review.
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“My life when I was that age was such a disaster”
Recommended Reading: Lindsay Whalen’s interview with Lev Grossman, which goes nicely with our review of The Magicians.
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Crowdsourcing Translation
Three thousand Russians volunteered to proofread “forty-six thousand eight hundred pages” of Leo Tolstoy’s writings over the course of fourteen days. Soon their efforts will be available online for all to see. Meanwhile, Buzzfeed is catching some heat for enlisting the services of unpaid Duolingo students in order to translate site content for Spanish, French, and Brazilian Portuguese readers.
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“Copywrong”
“At bottom, the argument about copyright is not really a philosophical argument. It’s a battle between interest groups.” Louis Menand writes about American copyright law in the digital age for The New Yorker, and his essay pairs well with the many articles on copyright we’ve published over the years.
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