Out this week: The Collected Poems of Robert Bly; Petty Theft by Nicholas Friedman; The Complete Poems of A.R. Ammons: Volume 1; and The Best American Magazine Writing 2018. For more on these and other new titles, go read our most recent book preview.
Tuesday New Release Day: Bly; Friedman; Ammons; ASME
It Ain’t Hard To Tell
This essay by Mensah Demary for Electric Literature on Nas and the literary legitimacy of hip-hop is the best thing you’ll read this morning. “Nas is a world-class storyteller and practitioner of the narrative form,” Demary writes, “I don’t understand why there isn’t more discussion around hip-hop’s literary value among today’s millennial-and-boomer intelligentsia.”
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“There is no other planet like Earth, […] so Superfund sites have to be super fun.”
We’ve entered the Anthropocene. It’s time to read up: David Biello provides a list of required reading and a thesis on the goal of literature in this new geologic age.
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Two Chapters of Train Dreams
You can read the first two chapters of Denis Johnson‘s latest novel Train Dreams on his Facebook page.
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“This Book is Delicious!”
The German design firm Korefe partnered up with Gerstenberg Publishing to release a special edition cookbook that’s edible. The recipes have been imprinted on fresh pasta pages which can be baked into a lasagna. (via)
The Eternal Mystery
Recommended reading: Jonathan Russell Clark, who’s written for us many, many times before, considers “The Eternal Mystery of the Reclusive Writer” for Literary Hub.
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Writerly Pets
Famous authors and their dogs, photographed by Jill Krementz. Via The Daily Dish.
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