A Mississippi school district has decided to pull Harper Lee‘s To Kill a Mockingbird from its junior-high reading list because it “makes people uncomfortable.” The novel, which frequently tops the American Library Association’s “Frequently Challenged Book” list, tackles racism. See also: an essay on the symbolism of mockingbirds.
‘Mockingbird’ Removed from Reading List
Self’s the Man
Christopher Hitchens has a marvelous essay on Philip Larkin (curmudgeon, onanist, genius) at The Atlantic. Via 3 Quarks Daily.
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“while the pages of Romeo and Juliet have been nearly worn to shreds, King John has been left virtually intact.”
Oxford University's Bodleian Library is working to make the first edition of Shakespeare's collected works, published in 1623 and carrying the physical wear and tear of 17th century readers, online for free.
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Highlighting the Handmaid
“We lived, as usual, by ignoring. Ignoring isn’t the same as ignorance, you have to work at it.” BookRiot did us all a service by finding out the 10 most highlighted passages of (the e-book edition of) Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. You must also read our own Edan Lepucki on reading and re-reading Atwood.
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“This annoying world”
We’ve grappled before with the dark world of Kindle self-publishing. We even published a cautionary tale of trying to live off Kindle erotica. In The Guardian, a look at the worst book covers of the Kindlesphere, all of which appear on an excellent Tumblr.
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Fini
Recommended Reading: Colm Tóibín reads a new French novel, The End of Eddy.
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a multitude of drops
There is a very long trailer for the Cloud Atlas movie, which comes out in the fall. Unfortunately, Kevin Bacon isn't in it.
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The OA’s New EIC
Take the opportunities provided by this video and this interview to get to know Roger Hodge, the new editor of The Oxford American.
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