“My body is a lens / I can look through with my mind,” writes the poet Ama Codjoe in the opening pages of Bluest Nude, her debut collection. It is impossible, of course, to perceive one’s own body from outside it, but Codjoe’s speakers find approximations and resemblances all around them: in mirrors, in photographs,
Literature
‘Continuity of Parks’ is a 1956 short story by the Argentinian writer Julio Cortázar (1914-84). In the story, which is just two pages long, a man reads a novel in which two lovers, a man and a woman, plot the murder of the woman’s husband. At the end of the story, it turns out that,
Sometimes, when it rains gothic blood, it pours. Such is the situation we find ourselves in this October, as not one, not two, not three, but four new vampire dramas adapted from cult favorite books are airing on four different networks all at once. With so many vampires and so little time before Halloween and
The internet did not cause the insurrection. But it enabled it. The technology of any age in human history shapes the culture of that time. With the advent of agriculture and farming tools, humans developed stationary civilizations and abandoned thousands of years of itinerancy. The printing press made the written word accessible, heralding in the
TODAY: In 1849, Edgar Allen Poe dies in Baltimore, at ago 40, under mysterious circumstances. “A woman is a useful symbol for the splay of land on which such a free man saunters.” Rachel Richardson on Thoreau, running, and the pleasures of not quite knowing where you’re going. | Lit Hub Memoir In praise
October 7, 2022, 9:30am In what marks a glorious return to filmmaking after a nearly 20-year absence, John Waters (Baltimore’s favorite son and American cinema’s favorite degenerate) will write and direct an adaptation of his 2022 debut novel, Liarmouth: A Feel-Bad Romance. The adaptation, to be produced by Village Roadshow Pictures, will be Waters’ first time
TODAY: In 1892, Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva is born. “Cheever drank. Roth womanized. My grandfather wrote quietly in his office for 60 years.” Alison Fairbrother on learning lessons—in writing and life—from her grandfather, E.L. Doctorow. | Lit Hub Memoir Stephen King pens an ode to Maine cuisine—plus, a recipe for Cujo-inspired French toast casserole. | Lit Hub Food Elizabeth
October 7, 2022, 10:30am If you tore through Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s 2019 novel Fleishman Is in Trouble with as much relish as I did (and based on critical and internet commenter response to the book, you did), chances are you’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of its FX adaptation. The series begins streaming on Hulu on November 17,
‘Sticks’ is a very short story by the contemporary American writer George Saunders (born 1958), who is perhaps best-known for his 2017 Booker-Prize-winning novel Lincoln in the Bardo. This piece of flash fiction, which was included in Saunders’ 2013 collection Tenth of December, sees a man recalling his father’s habit of decorating two sticks outside
October 7, 2022, 11:46am Yes, there is a library in Ankara composed entirely of books thrown out (presumably) by people who hate reading (or who work in publishing). After Turkish garbage collectors began finding more and more trashed books, they decided to start organizing them in an abandoned brick factory—and voila, a library was born.
October 6, 2022, 3:47pm Welcome to Life Advice for Book Lovers, Lit Hub’s advice column. You tell me what’s eating you in an email to deardorothea@lithub.com, and I’ll tell you what you should read next. * Dear Dorothea, I’m usually such a good reader—and I love to read. On any given day, my absolute favorite thing
October 6, 2022, 10:58am Billionaire MacKenzie Scott—the bulk of whose wealth comes from her ex-husband’s anti-union empire of digital retail nihilism—has given $20 million to the Fresno Unified School District. And while $20 million isn’t actually that much to someone worth $54 billion, it means an awful lot to a public school district. By comparison
October 5, 2022, 10:49am As Tony Montana would probably say if he were a literary agent: In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the memoir. That’s right! Al Pacino is reportedly in talks to
The work of the American poet Mary Oliver (1935-2019) has perhaps not received as much attention from critics as she deserves, yet it’s been estimated that she was the bestselling poet in the United States at the time of her death. ‘Wild Geese’, the poem focused on in the present analysis, is one of her
October 5, 2022, 11:38am The world’s most valuable novel—a first edition of Jane Austen’s Emma, purchased in 2019 for £375,000, back when the pound had value—is going on display at the former house of Austen’s brother, Edward. The American owner has insisted the three-volume set remain in England, and so it will live at Chawtown
October 4, 2022, 4:33pm (Please not that because the Discourse is the ultimate zombie, many of my 2021 suggestions (Supply Chain Issues, JCO’s Twitter, Emotional BookTok Teen) still apply.) Literary Non-HottieThe perfect for lazy, not-hot party-goers—wear your normal clothes, hold a book, and authoritatively speculate about the inner lives of the smokeshows around you. DOJ
October 3, 2022, 9:30am Ah, paperbacks. So soft and comforting. So nice to curl up with. (No hard edges!) This month sees the publication of paperbacks from Jonathan Franzen, Rebecca Solnit, Patrick Radden Keefe, Louise Glück, and more. Get cozy. * Jonathan Franzen, Crossroads(Picador, October 4) “Crossroads is Franzen’s greatest and most perfect novel to
‘Harrison Bergeron’ is a 1961 short story by the American writer Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007). The story can be categorised as ‘dystopian satire’ or a ‘satirical dystopian story’, but we’ll say more about these labels in a moment. The action of the story takes place in the future America of 2081, where everyone has been made