On Tuesday, Donald Rumsfeld—who, as defense secretary under George W. Bush, was a driving force behind the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq—died. Major outlets wheeled out pre-written obituaries. The AP’s, by Robert Burns, bordered on hagiography. Its headline initially declared Rumsfeld “a cunning leader undermined by Iraq war”; that language was later changed to “cunning leader who oversaw a ruinous Iraq war,” but the opening paragraph still says that “try as he might,” Rumsfeld “could not outmaneuver the ruinous politics of the Iraq war,” as if he had been forced to play chess against a supercomputer. The Iraqi death toll from the war is not noted; the American death toll is—but not before Rumsfeld’s charitable work on behalf of veterans, his “accomplished” college wrestling career, and colleagues’ recollections of his smarts and patriotism. The first words of the article’s URL are “Chicago Bears,” a reference to the football team Rumsfeld supported as a kid. Because the AP is a wire service, the obituary was republished widely. Other prominent efforts were better, but did not adequately foreground the human cost of Rumsfeld’s military aggression: The New York Times addressed Iraq only after mentioning the records he broke as defense secretary (he was the youngest person in that post, under Gerald Ford, then the oldest, under Bush) and his reputation as a “combative infighter” who challenged “military orthodoxies.” The Washington Post described him as “controversial,” but... Continue reading at 'Columbia Journalism Review'
[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2021-07-02 12:32:38 UTC ]
I’ve known Lauren Markham’s writing since her first book, The Faraway Brothers, came out in 2017. Then, a couple years ago, I got to know her a bit more as a person when a friend emailed the two of us and another writer to ask our thoughts on writing (and teaching) journalism versus memoir or […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-02-07 09:57:40 UTC ]
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In Sarah Chihaya’s memoir Bibliophobia, we enter into the moment of her breakdown—an event that she has seen on her horizon since childhood, but also seemed impossibly remote. As a child of Japanese and Japanese-Canadian immigrants to the US, Chihaya’s parents “didn’t really believe in the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-02-06 09:56:18 UTC ]
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South by Southwest, the long-running media and music conference in Austin, Tex., is launching a book imprint, SXSW Books, focusing on works by experts and innovators across creative industries. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-02-04 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Sarah Chihaya’s unconventional memoir charts her troubled relationship with the literature that formed her. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2025-01-31 13:00:00 UTC ]
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Edmund White’s The Loves of My Life, Dorian Lynsky’s Everything Must Go, and Liz Pelly’s Mood Machine all feature among the best reviewed nonfiction titles of the month. Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s home for book reviews. * 1. The Loves of My Life: A Sex Memoir by Edmund White... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-01-31 09:58:15 UTC ]
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This searing memoir recounts one woman's epic journey to trace the global slave trade across the Atlantic Ocean—and find her ... Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-01-30 12:00:00 UTC ]
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A new memoir by the tech mogul recounts a boyhood steeped in old-fashioned, analog pastimes as well as precocious feats of coding. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2025-01-30 10:05:04 UTC ]
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It’s among the more playful matters on his mind in “Shattered,” a memoir of the injury that took away his ability to turn pages — but not his hunger to tell a story. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2025-01-30 10:00:13 UTC ]
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At 84, Edmund White is ready to kiss (to put it mildly) and tell ... well, everything. Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2025-01-28 16:56:52 UTC ]
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By the time I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings hit shelves in the first days of 1970, buzz about the memoir had been building for some time. Newspaper stories about its author, Maya Angelou—a well-known dancer, singer, and political activist—had been teasing the book for years; both Ebony and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-01-28 09:57:54 UTC ]
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has made Ukraine’s book publishing industry a target of the war. But the industry and Ukrainian readers are keeping books alive as a source of Ukraine’s resilient culture, and of solace and distraction. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2025-01-23 20:59:20 UTC ]
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A cozy fantasy bodyguard romance, a darkly funny memoir exploring the toll of sexism, a new detective duo, and more of today's best book deals Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-01-23 17:04:23 UTC ]
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Activist, Spy, and Icon Josephine Baker's memoir, a bookish memoir about mental illness and identity by a literature professor, and more. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-01-21 13:30:00 UTC ]
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This week's featured books include the follow up to IRON FLAME, new horror by 2024 Nobel Prize winner Han Kang, and a memoir by the most dangerous woman in Africa. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2025-01-21 13:00:00 UTC ]
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The free expression–averse, tariff-happy president is in the White House once more. This time, the book business knows what to expect—mostly. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-01-17 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Online literary journal 'Joyland' has relaunched as Joyland Publishing, an independent nonprofit publisher of fiction. Under the new umbrella are a reimagined 'Joyland' magazine and Joyland Editions, a small press that will put out two novellas a year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2025-01-14 05:00:00 UTC ]
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What roles do place and memory play in the construction of a narrative? In this conversation, memoirist Shze-Hui Tjoa and novelist Farah Ali talk about how these forces affect the storytelling in their respective books: The Story Game (Tin House, 2024), an interrogation of memory, childhood, and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2025-01-13 09:56:58 UTC ]
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