In the Thick of It
Why Bookstores Are Needed
While calling for the preservation of the wonderful St. Marks Bookshop, Paris Review editor Lorin Stein explains that “magazines like The Paris Review need good bookstores, where the staff knows how to spread the word about good writing, face to face, hand to hand.”
●
●
Change
The New York Review of Books excerpts recent Nobel winner Mo Yan’s part fiction, part memoir Change.
●
●
“No real diminishment was possible.”
Clive James gives Pauline Kael a serious critical appreciation in The Atlantic. Last year, The Millions also showed Kael some love, in this review of The Age of Movies.
Mark Twain’s Autobiography
Mark Twain left instructions not to publish his autobiography until 100 years after his death, which is now. Volume I will hit shelves in November.
●
●
Chomsky on Schooling
Noam Chomsky, in conversation at the University of Arizona, derides the rising cost of university tuition. He goes on to say student fees are “a general form of indoctrination and control, which goes down to kindergarten. I mean, that’s what No Child Left Behind is about. It’s training for the Marine Corps.”
It Never Leaves You
The English major is more than just a common course of study, friends. The English major is a way of life. (via Arts and Letters Daily)
●
●
The Great 2014 Indie Press Cheat Sheet
Interested in reading some of the indie and small press books coming out in 2014, but don’t know where to start? Michael Seidlinger put together a great Cheat Sheet of titles to get excited about this year. Think of it as a complement to our Great 2014 Book Preview.