On the Kojo Nnamdi Show, YA author Jason Reynolds discusses the goal behind writing Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You with Ibram X. Kendi. “I think it’s always complicated to take such massive ideas and to whittle them into something bite-size without pandering or condescending to children,” Reynolds explains. “I don’t think you have to condescend in order to give them that which is true. It can be sophisticated and nuanced, and still be for them.”
Jason Reynolds on the Language of Discussing Racism with Kids
Colson Whitehead on Making Eccentric Ideas Plausible
Colson Whitehead reflects on the fantastic fiction he consumed as a child and how it made the most eccentric ideas seem plausible.
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Working-Class Heroine
“That no-way-out is really the difference between boys and girls in working-class culture, because a working-class boy could run, or could when I was growing up.” Guernica interviews Dorothy Allison about literature as glory; survival, opportunity, and gender; and working-class heroes vs. heroines. For your reading consideration: Bill Morris‘s essay on the riches of “white trash” literature.
Seeking an End to eBook DRM
Joe Wikert explains why the book industry needs to learn from the music industry, drop DRM, and adopt a unified ebook format.
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California in The New York Times
The Millions‘s own Edan Lepucki, whose first novel California will be released next week, was featured in The New York Times following the promotion of her novel on The Colbert Report. We recommend you read the article, read more from Edan here and here, read the first chapter of California here, and then order the novel ASAP.
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“Once [Jenny] Diski did get going as a writer, she and [Doris] Lessing agreed to a kind of literary nonaggression pact: Lessing would not write about Diski if Diski would not write about Lessing. Even now, I sensed a note of anxiety in Diski’s attitude toward her current project. When I asked her if she had any titles in mind for the finished work, she said: ‘Gratitude.’ Or: ‘Ingratitude.’ I can’t decide which.’”
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Killing History
Over at the Slate Book Review, Laura Miller gives Bill O’Reilly’s Killing series a fair shake. From Jesus to Reagan, O’Reilly and his cowriter Martin Dugard have killed off five famous historical “Great Men.” Despite claims of some dubious assertions having been made throughout the series, the books themselves have enjoyed tremendous commercial success.
A Three-Minute Record
Recommended Reading: Laura Gianino at The Rumpus on seeing The Boss, Bruce Springsteen: “It felt silly to me, as a Springsteen fan of approximately four hours, to tell Keith that I felt Bruce understood me, too, but I realized somewhere in the middle of the show that Bruce was the same age when writing those songs as Keith and I were as we listened. Maybe I was just caught up in the moment. But if that were true, so was everyone.”
I grew up a poor white child, in the 60s. I was taught to love and respect all people regardless of race. I’ve traveled extensively, have long-lasting friends and dated women of all races. I’m sure there are racists out there. Yet I see a media inciting racism, eager to get attention for financial gain, way ahead of investigation. We’re all being had. Our cities were burned and looted, using George Floyd under false pretense. On a fatal dose of meth, we now know he cried out “I can’t breathe”, in the car, long before the officer put his knee on him. Most of racism was overcome, lawman policies changed a long time ago. We’re being had, by those who seek to gain by reigniting this tired wornout excuse for lack of initiative, personal accountability.