In our afternoon reading: new nonfiction from Ocean Vuong and Antonia Crane, Emily Gould on Jessica Winter’s new book, and more.
A Whole Lot of Amazing Writers Were Born on February 18th
The other day, we were looking at Library Booklists’ invaluable list of authors’ birthdays, and we noticed something: over a roughly 75-year period, a whole lot of critically important writers were born on the 18th of February. Here are some names: Toni Morrison. Sholem Aleichem. Audre Lorde. Wallace Stegner. Helen Gurley Brown. Nikos Kazantzakis. There are winners of major literary awards and groundbreaking figures in there–essential writers all. So, if you’re a writer and your birthday’s today: consider that there’s a pretty solid precedent going on.
I Love You, Bel Kaufman
Posted by Jason Diamond There is a slight possibility that Sholem Aleichem’s 100-year-old granddaughter, Bel Kaufman, is my favorite person on the planet: “Well, I did grow up. I did learn to write. But not in time. So now, at the age of 100 years, I am writing my memoir.” Watch the video with her at Metro Focus, and I’m going to keep hoping there’s an Advanced Style profile on her sooner or later…