“Presenting female writers as sexualized and frivolous diminishes their intellectual credentials, tarnishes their work as slight, not to be taken seriously.” The cover of the U.K. edition of The Letters of Sylvia Plath, a new collection of unpublished correspondence by the late author, features her in a bikini because, sexism. Pair with “Sexy Backs and Headless Women: A Book Cover Manifesto.”
Pinup Plath
Speaking with Greenwell
Recommended Reading: The Paris Review Daily interviews Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You, possibly the next great gay novel.
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Welcome, Ismail!
The Millions is thrilled to welcome a new staff writer, Ismail Muhammad, whose first piece for the site publishes today. (You may have seen Ismail's work at Zyzzyva and the Los Angeles Review of Books previously.) He splits his time between Los Angeles and Oakland, where he's currently working on a dissertation and a novel. Find him on Twitter @trapmotives and Instagram @trapmotifs.
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This Week’s New Releases
A.S. Byatt's new novel The Children's Book has won a ton of praise overseas - it may take home the Booker tonight -- and now it's finally available in the States. Meanwhile, Michael Chabon is trying his hand at memoir with his new book, Manhood for Amateurs.
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Do You?
Whitney Houston, Adele, Kanye West, Prince, and Justin Bieber all share something in common when it comes to the songs they sing. Each one of them rhymes “do” and “you” more often than any other pair of words. In fact, according to Ben Blatt, that duo is the most commonly rhymed pair in the history of pop music.
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Hello, Shalom.
Shalom Auslander believes. He can't really seem to help it.
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Seduction Through Literature
At The Paris Review Daily, Sarah Fay ruminates on her questionable practice of using literature to seduce men: "Wasn’t I just trying to bribe men hungry for something to read? ... How could I deliver book recommendations for an entire marriage?"