At Electric Literature, Randa Jarrar discusses her memoir, Love Is an Ex-Country, and the importance of confronting America’s history in order to grow from past mistakes. “A big part of my book is about the amnesia of America,” Jarrar says. “We are constantly at a time where we have to remind each other, ‘This has happened before. It didn’t work. Who is this benefiting?’ We can’t individually make change. We have to make it as a community.”
Randa Jarrar Confronts America’s Amnesia
DIAGRAM’s 2012 Essay Contest
The deadline for DIAGRAM’s annual essay contest is fast approaching. Past winners include Peter Jay Shippy’s “Goonies: or Wallace Stevens’s ‘The Snowman’–an Essay in 7 Films” and (my all-time favorite) Cheyenne Nimes’s “SECTION 404 OF THE CLEAN WATER ACT AND THE SANTA CRUZ RIVER SAND SHARK, SUBTITLED ‘THIS TROUBLESOME REGULATORY CONSTRAINT’.”
You ninnie-hammer flycatcher!
Short on insult fodder? In that case you’ll want to read Colin Burrow’s review of Melissa Mohr’s Holy Shit: A Brief History of Swearing. It includes such notables as: “slapsauce fellows, slabberdegullion druggels, lubbardly lowts … slutch calf-lollies, grouthead gnat-snappers, lob-dotterels, gaping changelings, [and] codshead loobies.” In the end, “swearing is one of the most basic human acts,” he writes.
Reviews of Man Booker Longlist
Last week, we provided excerpts for several of the titles on the Man Booker longlist. This week, The New Yorker has helpfully rounded up reviews of the titles.
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Win an Adrian Tomine print
From now until October 30th, if you spend $40 at Skylight Books (in store or online), you will be entered to win a limited-edition, signed and numbered print by Adrian Tomine. Go here for all the details!
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Not the Worst Thing
Step one: go read A. Igoni Barrett’s bravura confessional for The Millions. Step two: go check out this excerpt from his upcoming book in Guernica.
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