Lit Hub Weekly: June 28 – July 2, 2021

TODAY: In 1883, Franz Kafka is born.

“That Barthelme had such a long and fruitful relationship with The New Yorker now seems remarkable, for he was in many ways the least likely New Yorker contributor ever.” Charles McGrath on the avant-garde genius of Donald Barthelme. | Lit Hub
How Kurt Cobain’s favorite novel made its way onto Nirvana’s final album: Nathan Dunne on the seductive power of Patrick Süskind’s Perfume. | Lit Hub Music
Erin Flanagan recommends romances for Hot-Everybody Summer, in which “the concept of joy is not exclusive to one demographic.” | Lit Hub Reading Lists
“Both Child and James write for the same reason they read books growing up: escape.” Heather Martin searches for—and finds—uncanny connections between indie novelist Heidi James and thriller royalty Lee Child. | Lit Hub
Dwight Garner on Quentin Tarantino, Parul Sehgal on Dana Spiotta, Noaise Dolan on Lisa Taddeo, and more of the Reviews You Need to Read This Week. | Book Marks
Kate White asks fellow authors Harlan Coben, Lisa Unger, Alafair Burke and others about books they read twice because they’re just that good. | Crimereads
In honor of what would have been Princess Diana’s 60th birthday, Kristen Radtke illustrates the loneliness that was inextricable from her public appeal. | Vanity Fair
Clare Sestanovich’s advice for writing through self-doubt. | Poets & Writers
How do we learn to live in a changed climate? Tyler J. Kelley unpacks the reality of climate change, his fascination with rivers, and the future of American infrastructure. | Los Angeles Review of Books
Rachel Syme contemplates the purpose of deadlines and the impact of “the deadline effect” on working creatives. | The New Yorker
Lincoln Center has named Mahogany L. Browne its first ever poet in residence. | New York Times
“We build ladders made of myths and misconceptions.” Nina MacLaughlin illuminates humanity’s long-standing lunar fascination. | The Paris Review
The first wave of post-Trump books has arrived. What are they telling us? | NPR
“Very few people are willing to make the step to be in opposition to the apparatus of power, because we’re ambitious.” Sarah Schulman unpacks the historical legacy of ACT UP and the messy joy of political commitment. | Jacobin
Gene Seymour on the dangers and rewards of speculative fiction. | Bookforum
“You don’t want to miss out on the zeitgeist, so you get the book that everyone’s talking about.” Welcome to BookTok. | The Guardian
“Vulnerability in writing is a precision tool.” On the inherent difficulty of writing personal essays and the first-person industrial complex. | Catapult
The language of liberation: Five formerly or currently incarcerated writers on what freedom means to them. | Harper’s Bazaar
“Like almost all examples of cancel culture run amok, it’s mostly an example of Twitter run amok.” Emily VanDerWerff on the real-world consequences of internet ire for a trans sci-fi writer. | Vox
Tolkien’s classic romance: On queer readings of The Lord of the Rings. | Polygon
How Purple Rain depicted the psychological lives of Black men and paved the way for filmmakers like Spike Lee. | Bright Wall/Dark Room

Also on Lit Hub:

Anjeli Enjeti on the unbearable whiteness of southern literature • A photo essay from last year’s Occupy City Hall in NYC • Saskia Vogel on translating Linda Boström Knausgård’s autobiographical novel • On the rise of China’s state surveillance machinery • How a surprising trespasser inspired Beck Dorey-Stein’s first novel • Lavinia Liang considers the “Eastern Western,” a growing body of literature reclaiming a xenophobic genre • Margot Livesy on Kathrine Kressmann Taylor’s prophetic novel • How to respond to The Dreaded Question, “What’s your book about?” • What does the future hold for epidemiological technology like tracing apps? • Lytle Shaw remembers Bolinas, California, population 500 (poets) • Isadora Kosofsky documents an LA Covid ward • Humans have shaped the evolution of wild animals—but that’s not wholly a bad thing • Jason Guriel on the comedic brilliance of Bringing Up Baby • Molly Aitkins on the strange synchronicities of writing a novel • If “national characteristics don’t create national unity,” what could? • Anita Sethi reclaims her existence in the wake of racial trauma • Theodore R. Johnson considers the threat that racism poses to America • When disability rights activists and the Black Panthers took over a San Francisco government building • Will Self on the pain of reading contemporary books as a contemporary writer • How to create “geographic complexity” in fiction • A brief history of beloved comic Captain America • Dr. Inger Burnett-Zeigler recommends novels about the inner lives on Black women • John Brandon on the origins of his Florida Man novel

The Best of Book Marks:

Eric Nguyen’s Things We Lost to the Water, Anuk Arudpragasam’s Story of a Brief Marriage, and more rapid-fire book recs from Megha Majumdar • Jen DeGregorio recommends five sizzling new poetry collections for summer • A month of literary listening: AudioFile’s best audiobooks of June • Zakiya Dalila Harris’ The Other Black Girl, Brandon Taylor’s Filthy Animals, and Lawrence Wright’s The Plague Year all feature among the Best Reviewed Books of the June