In our morning reading: an interview with Ann Beattie, a playlist from Seth Fried, and more.
Morning Bites: Marie-Helene Bertino Recommends Books, Scott Cheshire Interviewed, Cult of Youth, Matthew Gavin Frank on Elk, and More
Wishing Ann Beattie a happy birthday, Scott Cheshire was interviewed by Phil Klay, new writing from Matthew Gavin Frank, book recommendations from Marie-Helene Bertino, and more.
Reviewed: Mrs. Nixon: A Novelist Imagines A Life by Ann Beattie
Reviewed by Jen Vafidis Mrs. Nixon By Ann Beattie Scribner, 304 p. Ann Beattie’s latest novel Mrs. Nixon: A Novelist Imagines A Life is not a biography, despite the helpful chronology of Patricia Nixon’s life in the back of the book. It’s not a novel either. There’s no plot beyond what is proposed in the subtitle. And it’s not a memoir; Beattie’s one encounter with Mrs. Nixon is entirely fictional. So what can we look forward to in the latest […]
Afternoon Bites: Ann Patchett, Ann Beattie, Kevin Sampsell, and more
“I…have no interest in living in a city without a bookstore.” Ann Patchett has opened a Parnassus Books, a bookstore in Nashville. In related news: fuck yeah, Ann Patchett. New poetry from Kevin Sampsell. Vulture chats with Ann Beattie about Mrs. Nixon. Ken Baumann puts in his two cents about Dennis Cooper’s The Marbled Swarm. Drag City is bringing the Groovy Records catalog back into print. The deadline for Word Riot’s travel grants for writers for the first quarter of […]
Morning Bites: 2011 NBA champions, John Hodgman on OWS, Amis on DeLillo, Kurt Vile pics, and more
Jesmyn Ward, Nikky Finney, and Stephen Greenblatt became the only people that will be able to say that they won anything from the NBA in 2011. The Washington Post has a nice Twitter timeline of the National Book Award happenings, and The New York Times has a rundown as well. John Hodgman explains what Occupy Wall Street, Herman Cain, and the musical Cats have in common. Martin Amis talks of Don DeLillo’s “prophetic soul.” (Thanks Gabrielle Gantz for the tip) Ann Beattie talks to […]
Morning Bites: Post-Ann Beattie, Taylor on Stephen King, Downton Disco, bad Life covers, and more
Now that Ann Beattie’s Mrs. Nixon is out, what First Lady deserves the fiction treatment next? Justin Taylor talking about Stephen King is one of those things you think would be cool if it happened. Then one day it does, and you’re like, “Holy shit! That was awesome!” Such is the case with his piece at Tor.com. Robert Birnbaum of The Morning News sits down with Nicole Krauss. The worst covers of Life Magazine as picked by Life Magazine. (Thanks […]
Indexing: Ann Beattie at the DMV, Ben Tarnoff, Frank Bill, Geoff Dyer, Orwell, and So Much More!
A roundup of things consumed by our editors. Jason Diamond Ann Beattie’s Mrs. Nixon was my company when I waited in line at the DMV in Herald Square for two hours yesterday, trying to get my drivers license for the first time in New York. Even though I’d had a DL in another state for ten years, since I didn’t renew, I’m a new driver in the eyes of Governor Cuomo. That means I get to go through the entire process I […]
Indexing: Bookavore’s Recommendations, Dennis Cooper, Ann Beattie, Holocaust fiction, and more
Tobias Carroll Earlier this week, I finished reading Irmgaud Keun’s After Midnight (at the recommendation of Bookavore). What begins as a depiction of daily life in late-30s Germany from a narrator not particularly disposed towards fascism eventually (and subtly, and quietly) becomes something much more haunting, as the sublimated tendencies towards frustration and despair that have accumulated over the course of the book make themselves eminently tangible.