In our morning reading: notes on Patti Smith, new writing from Roxane Gay, writers channel their favorite literary characters, and more.
#tobyreads: Adrift, in Words and Games
I spent a little time in Nantucket about two years ago. I remember the ferry trip out and back; I remember mist and crowds on the island. It was early December; it was cold, and the sky over the island looked strange. I thought about the water and the island a lot when I was reading Caroline Bergvall’s Drift. I thought about that and I thought about Iceland and I thought about accounts I’d read of refugees and travelers in jeopardy […]
Weekend Bites: “Moby-Dick” Endures, Mecca Normal, Katherine Dunn on “Thrown,” Nicholas Rombes’s Research, and More
A look at the lasting relevance of Moby-Dick, interviews with Mecca Normal and Evan Osnos, notes on Thrown and GB84, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Karen Russell Interviewed, Yelena Akhtiorskaya, New Matt Dojny Fiction, Orwell Invocations, and More
Interviews with Jac Jemc, Karen Russell, and Yelena Akhtiorskaya; fiction from Matt Dojny; essays on cat videos; and much more.
#tobyreads: Esoteric Classics and Political Ruminations — Challenging Work From Bioy Casares to Fitzgerald
A lot of what I’ve read this week has been for pieces to run here or elsewhere, or books that won’t be out for a while. So you’re getting something of a mixed bag: a couple of works by renowned writers; one collection of documents pertaining to a particularly current concern; and one more esoteric piece of prose.
Morning Bites: James Franco summer school, Melville’s birthday, Lemony Snicket on “The Astral,” and more
Today, we’ve got James Franco teaching more, the Moby-Dic writer would be celebrating his 191st birthday (if he wasn’t dead), the New Yorker makes a milli, and much more.
Bites: Honoring Céline, Melville’s Beards, Philosophical Novels and More
Should France honor Céline even though he was a Nazi supporter? Herman Melville used 25 different words to describe beards in two chapters of White Jacket, his 1850 novel based on his experience crewing on a US frigate in the South Seas for ten years. #TheMoreYouKnow The New York Times takes a look at the philosophical novel. An interview with Nick Flynn at The Rumpus.
Dick Watching: The Musket
Posted by Juliet Linderman Hey dudes and dudettes, ladies and germs, cetaceans and crustaceans, and welcome back to Dick Watching on Vol. 1, where we bring you a boatload of news about wonderful, wonderful whales. You guys ready to take the plunge?