In our afternoon reading: thoughts on books by Mark Fisher and Germán Sierra, an interview with John McPhee, and more.
Morning Bites: John McPhee’s Latest, Chris Gethard Interviewed, Amelia Bonow’s Recommendations, and More
In our morning reading: thoughts on John McPhee’s new book and the current state of blurbing, an interview with Chris Gethard, and more.
Vol.1 Brooklyn’s November 2018 Book Preview
And here we go, deeper into fall. Daylight Savings Time looms this weekend, making for shorter days and longer nights; colder temperatures beckon. Does that make it the right time of the year to curl up with a book? Well, sure–but is there ever not a good time of year for that? Among the books we’re most excited about this month are bold riffs on detective fiction, genre-defying narratives, and works of fiction and nonfiction that put politics and culture into sharp relief. Here are some November books (plus a pair from the final days of October) that have caught our eye.
Afternoon Bites: Claire Messud on Boredom, Danniel Schoonebeek, Revisiting John McPhee, and More
In our afternoon writing: new nonfiction from Claire Messud, an excerpt from Danniel Schoonebeek’s forthcoming book, a look at the work of John McPhee, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Jonathan Lethem Interviewed, Sean H. Doyle on Music Videos, Leesa Cross-Smith on One Direction,and More
In our afternoon reading: new writing from Colin Dickey, Leesa Cross-Smith, and Sasha Flether; Matt Bell interviewed Jonathan Lethem; notes on Lee Hazlewood; and more.
#tobyreads: Lost Landscapes and Secret Societies
Last week’s column involved some talk of landscapes. At around that time, I’d been reading Walden for WORD’s Classics Book Group–in this case, the edition with annotations by Bill McKibben. This is, somewhat inexplicably, the first time I’ve read it; I am apparently a bad reader of the Transcendentalists. (Really need to work on that.) What struck me–among the things that struck me, really, as there were plenty–was how accessible it still felt. Some works written in the 19th century seem […]
Reading “The UnAmericans” and Revisiting John McPhee’s “The Ransom of Russian Art”
There are many reasons to read The UnAmericans, Molly Antopol’s terrific debut collection; many of them are covered by Jason Diamond’s recent piece on the book. For me, one of the side benefits to reading it was through its invocation of another notable book: John McPhee’s The Ransom of Russian Art. McPhee’s book, first published in 1994, focuses on the curious life of Norton Dodge, an economist who, during the Cold War, smuggled numerous works of art out of the Soviet Union, […]
#tobyreads: Lost Correspondence: Dispatches From Elena Ferrante, John McPhee, Harry Mathews, and Lawrence Weschler
Four books to cover today: two works of nonfiction and two novels, one of which is deeply rooted in reality and one of which is…not. At their core is a shared fondness for transmissions: letters sent from continent to continent; artists whose work clamors for revival (or may require a late-career boost); lifelong bonds that abruptly cease to exist. Whether the setting is post-war Italy or the Soviet Union on the cusp of its dissolution, these books evoke places on […]