In our weekend reading: thoughts on books by Sara Gallardo and Max Porter, notable 2023 music, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Colson Whitehead Interviewed, Max Porter’s New Novel, Juliet Jacques’s Novella, and More
In our afternoon reading: interviews with Colson Whitehead and Sarah Rose Etter, reviews of new books by Max Porter and Juliet Jacques, and more.
Books of the Month: May 2023 Edition
How, exactly, did we get to May already? Normally, we’d make a joke here about the collapse of time and space or something similarly esoteric, but the hour is at hand when we should get to the recommending of books. And so here are some book recommendations for the month we’re in — and, if you’re behind on your reading, these books aren’t going anywhere.
An Artist’s Death, Told in Fragments: On Max Porter’s “The Death of Francis Bacon”
There’s a long literary tradition of longform fiction set against the backdrop of someone on their deathbed. The Death of Ivan Ilyich is one of the lodestars here, for sure; I myself am partial to By Night in Chile for its haunting construction, both Satanic humblebrag and chastened confession. Max Porter’s latest novel, The Death of Francis Bacon, taps into that same dread-inducing momentum — the sense of a protagonist hurtling, depending on your (or their) perspective, into either the great beyond or complete nothingness.
Afternoon Bites: Max Porter’s Latest, Laurent Binet’s Fiction, Remixing Lyra Pramuk, and More
In our afternoon reading: thoughts on Max Porter’s new novel, an interview with Ellen Datlow, and more.
Morning Bites: Chelsea Bieker, Natalie Eilbert Poetry, Emily Gould, Max Porter’s Recommendations, and More
In our morning reading: interviews with Chelsea Bieker and Emily Gould, poetry by Natalie Eilbert, and more.
Morning Bites: Sarah Rose Etter, Natalie Diaz Interviewed, Max Porter and Will Oldham, Beth Lisick Excerpted, and More
In our morning reading: reviews of books by Sarah Rose Etter and George Scialabba, an interview with Natalie Diaz, and more.
Morning Bites: Igiaba Scego, Max Porter Interviewed, Morgan Jerkins, Vampire Weekend’s Latest, and More
In our morning reading: thoughts on novels by Igiaba Scego and Matt Cardin, an interview with Max Porter, and more.