Here are some of the articles about the world of literature that caught my eye recently. The New York Review of Books “Truth, Beauty, and Oliver Sacks” Simon Callow reviews Everything in Its Place: First Loves and Last Tales by Oliver Sacks, the second posthumous collection of Sacks’s essays, most of which were published in […]
Here’s a short entry for this busy holiday week. In Fiction, It Was the Year of the Woman An interesting look at the bulk of novels published this year: They didn’t launch any franchises — no “girl”-titled blockbusters and probably no future Jennifer Lawrence vehicles — but collectively, they dominated a shrunken literary ecosystem. Each
Five Writing Tips from Tana French I usually stay away from tips aimed specifically at writers, but I found some of French’s tips here useful for readers as well as writers, especially what she has to say about characters: There’s no such thing as ‘men’ or ‘women.’ There’s only the individual character you’re writing… .
Can Going to a Museum Help Your Heart Condition? In a New Trial, Doctors Are Prescribing Art. Art museums offer quite a few side benefits for visitors—from a venue for classes, lectures, film screenings and concerts to a place to grab a meal, conduct academic research or shop for reliably odd presents in the gift
8 Tips For Overcoming ’Reader’s Block’ I can’t remember ever encountering reader’s block. My own problem is usually the opposite: other life duties that prevent me from spending as much time as I’d like to spend reading. Nevertheless, Emily Petsko asserts: “Reader’s block” is a well-documented problem, and even avid readers occasionally suffer from it.
THE SIMPLE JOY OF REREADING TO BREAK A READING SLUMP Julia Rittenberg has a confession to make: I used to have a great deal of anxiety around keeping up with others’ reading paces. Social media heightened my awareness of reading habits, and worries that my own were woefully behind. I would be unable to choose
OCTAVIA BUTLER AND AMERICA AS ONLY BLACK WOMEN SEE IT It is a rare writer who can use sci-fi not simply to chart an escape from reality, but as a pointed reflection of the most minute and magnified experiences that frame and determine the lives of those who live in black skin. Octavia E. Butler
Introduction to Reading Other Women At a time when female “others”—black, brown, and yellow—together constitute the largest block of the world’s population, their persistent invisibility to Westerners not only means they are overlooked in the present moment, but that they are consistently erased from the historical record. Rafia Zakaria reacts against “the challenges that arise
Awards Introduction: 6 Literary Prizes and a Few Winning Books We Love There are so many literary prizes that keeping them all straight becomes a problem. Who awards which ones, and what are the entry and judgment criteria? Here are descriptions of a few—Nobel Prize, National Book Award, Costa Award, Pulitzer Prize, Man Booker, Women’s
It’s only the middle of the month, so you’ve got some time to get into the Halloween book/film mood. Here are some suggestions. WOMEN, TRAUMA, AND HAUNTED HOUSES Sarah Smeltzer writes: The haunted house is a staple of the horror genre and it’s easy to see why. Your house should be familiar and it should
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