In our afternoon reading: a playlist from Alexis M. Smith, new nonfiction from Laina Dawes and Rosie Schaap, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Leslie Jamison Interviewed, Claudia Rankine, Penelope Fitzgerald’s Works, Lance Olsen on FC2, and More
An abundance of Leslie Jamison interviews, Lydia Millet and Jenny Offill in conversation, a report from a Seattle small press festival, talking with Claudia Rankine, and more.
Morning Bites: Jenny Offill Interviewed, Matt Bell Fiction, Talking With Karl Ove Knausgård, Meline Toumani, and More
In our Thursday morning reading: interviews with Jenny Offill, Meline Toumani, and Karl Ove Knausgård; David Byrne on duets; with the dead; notes on some Modest Mouse reissues; fiction from Matt Bell; and more.
Afternoon Bites: The Mitford Sisters, Jenny Offill, Sean H. Doyle Interviewed, Drew Daniel vs. Album Lists, and More
Thoughts on the Mitford sisters, Drew Daniel against favorite-album lists, interviews with Cameron Esposito, Hamish Kilgour, and Sean H. Doyle, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Andre the Giant Comics, Corin Tucker’s New Band, Teju Cole, Maud Newton on Genealogy, and More
Andre the Giant gets a biography in comics form, a discussion of Teju Cole’s Twitter fiction, Corin Tucker has a new band, notes on silence in literature, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Jenny Offill Interviewed, Kim Gordon’s Book, Notes on “Broad City,” Post-Punk Lit, and More
This afternoon: a look at a new collection of Kim Gordon’s writing, an interview with Jenny Offill, the collision of post-punk and classic literature, thoughts on Broad City, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Manuel Gonzales’s Writing Routines, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, The Best Show’s Last Days, Indie Press Preview, and More
This afternoon: the most anticipated indie press titles of 2014, Manuel Gonzalez on his writing routine, Chelsea Wolfe and King Dude team up, Kate Zambreno on Dept. of Speculation, and more.
#tobyreads: Deconstructing Intellectual Lives, With Humor
Getting laughs and pathos from the same work of fiction is a hard thing to do. Adam Wilson’s previous book, Flatscreen, did so regularly, with wry observations juxtaposed with a real sense of loss. As good as that book was, his new collection What’s Important is Feeling, is even better — bleak scenarios and economic anxiety coexist with awkward sex, failed relationships, and barely sublimated loathing. Wilson is excellent at finding the pathos of characters one wouldn’t normally find empathy for: […]