In our afternoon reading: exploring Randall Kenan’s use of language, Rick Moody on music, and more.
Afternoon Bites: T Fleischmann’s Essay, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Jo Walton’s Latest, Bud Smith, and More
In our afternoon reading: new writing from T Fleischmann and Bud Smith, a report from a Philip Roth book stand, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Maya Jasanoff, A Bud Smith Excerpt, Scott Esposito, The Raincoats’ Influence, and More
In our afternoon reading: the cultural legacy of Joseph Conrad, the influence of The Raincoats, and much more.
We’ll be taking tomorrow off due to the holiday; light posting will resume Friday.
Afternoon Bites: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o Interviewed, Elizabeth Crane, Chiwan Choi’s Poetry, Derek Walcott Revisited, and More
In our afternoon reading: an interview with Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, thoughts on books by Elizabeth Crane and Chiwan Choi, and more.
Weekend Bites: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Natalie Eilbert Poetry, Nora Ephron, Experimental Feminist Literature, and More
In our weekend reading: new writing from Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, Natalie Eilbert, and Bijan Stephen; Paula Bomer interviewed by Karolina Waclawiak; and much more.
#tobyreads: Getting International (and Interplanetary)
I’ve been slowly working my way through the works of Russian science fiction novelists Arkady and Boris Strugatsky–following Definitely Maybe and Roadside Picnic, I checked out Hard to Be a God (in part because I’d been reading about a recent film adaptation of it). It’s a deeply strange book, in the best way: though set in a world that resembled medieval Europe, it’s also a work of science fiction. The protagonist hails from a future Earth, and while he’s a participant in this society, he’s […]
Afternoon Bites: Sheila Heti’s Mythology, Shuggie Otis, Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Memoir, Seth Fried, and More
Ngugi wa Thiong’o talked about language, political unrest, and his new memoir with NPR. Sheila Heti gives us “A New Canadian Myth for New Canadian Times.” “In the album, it’s possible to hear the kaleidoscopic ambition and bruised optimism of What’s Going On and Innervisions, hints of Miles Davis’ prolific funk-fusion period and Bob Marley’s ascendant good vibrations, the lingering specter of Love’s death-of-innocence opus Forever Changes, and the drawn-out, spaced-out folk-rock sigh emanating from Laurel Canyon.” Eric Harvey on Shuggie Otis, at Pitchfork. The […]