Douglas Unger Turns Rapacious Greed and Moral Slipperiness into High Literature

Forty years after the publication of Leaving the Land, Pulitzer Prize finalist Douglas Unger returns with his fifth novel, Dream City, an excoriating tale of hope, greed, and betrayal in Las Vegas. C.D. Reinhart is Unger’s fatally flawed protagonist, a failed actor bent on self-improvement who is forced to be the public face of his […] The post Douglas Unger Turns Rapacious Greed and Moral Slipperiness into High Literature appeared first on Electric Literature. Continue reading at 'Electric Literature'

[ Electric Literature | 2024-10-08 11:05:00 UTC ]

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7 Translated Books About Queer Life in Taiwan and China

Before writing my debut novel Bestiary, I began a year-long process of translating letters written by my grandmother, many of which were addressed to people I didn’t know. While attempting these translations, I realized the impossibilities and possibilities of the task—the losses and gaps and... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-09-28 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Tell Us Your Favorite Fall Food and We’ll Tell You What National Book Award Nominee to Read

Autumn means changing leaves, apple-based baked goods, decorative gourds, pumpkin spice lattes—and an avalanche of literary award longlists. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the must-read National Book Award nominees you’re now realizing you didn’t read, why not base your TBR pile off of... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-09-25 11:00:06 UTC ]
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Why Aren’t There More Books About Asexuals?

Science journalist and debut author Angela Chen remembers the first time she saw the word “asexuality”—online, on the Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN). I don’t remember the first time I saw the word, though I know I first used it in the negative—as in, I may have “weird” views on... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-09-21 11:00:38 UTC ]
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By Telling New Stories, We Build a New Future

In order to fit more texts into my Asian American literature course, I sometimes assign the play adaptation of Jessica Hagedorn’s novel Dogeaters. The novel is canonized within Asian American literature and features an imagined version of the Philippines made from film and radio tropes, found... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-09-17 11:00:54 UTC ]
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A Scientist Tries to Understand Her Family Problems Through Mice

Yaa Gyasi’s debut novel Homegoing told the story of two branches of a Ghanaian family, one descended from a woman who marries a white slave trader and whose line stays in Ghana, another descended from her half-sister who is captured and sent to America in bondage. Gyasi’s second novel... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-09-11 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Viet Thanh Nguyen has just become the first Asian-American member of the Pulitzer Board.

A big congratulations to Viet Thanh Nguyen, who is joining the Pulitzer Prize Board as its first Asian-American and Vietnamese-American member. After an extensive nominating process, the board chooses the winners from a list of finalists in each category and may additionally give a Special Award... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-08 18:40:01 UTC ]
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Numerous Poetic Facts About Swine

Pigs They are born in a flood of magma. They claw their way to the center of the earth. They don’t know what a blouse is, and they don’t care. There are seventeen constellations named for their kin. They coordinate all the Monday briefings. When they read the wrong books, they return them to... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-08-31 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Ayad Akhtar’s play ‘Disgraced’ won a Pulitzer Prize. Now ‘Homeland Elegies’ shows what that success cost him.

Akhtar has crafted a phenomenal coalescence of memoir, fiction, history and cultural analysis. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-08-31 10:55:09 UTC ]
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10 Short Stories About Women’s Transformations

The Little Mermaid sacrifices her tail for a human soul. The Navajo Changing Woman grows old and is reborn with the seasons. The nymph Daphne becomes a tree to escape lovesick Apollo. Women transform because we are hungry. We transform because we’re restless, and because we’re dangerous. Women... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-08-28 11:00:00 UTC ]
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“Breasts and Eggs” Grapples with the Weird Mess of Women’s Bodies

Though you’ve probably only learned Mieko Kawakami’s name recently, with the release of Breasts and Eggs from renowned indie press Europa Editions, she’s been a well-known figure in the Japanese literary world for several years. Haruki Murakami called her his favorite young novelist, and the... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-08-28 11:00:00 UTC ]
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A Novel About Rebelling Against Toxic Positivity

Janet, the acerbic narrator of Lucie Britsch’s debut novel Sad Janet, is a resister. She’s sad—has been for most of her life—and doesn’t want to take the pills that big pharma, her mother, and the culture at-large is pushing on her to “fix” her. She’s content with sadness, and she’s not into the... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-08-26 11:00:00 UTC ]
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9 New Translated Books by Women

August is Women in Translation month, dedicated to works of literature originally written by women in languages other than English. As we explained in our 2018 version of this list, such works make up a tiny percentage of the books published in the United States each year, though with increased... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-08-26 11:00:00 UTC ]
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7 Books About Being Young and Messy in New York

My memoir is not unique. But only in the sense that my story unfolds with New York City as the backdrop, where so many other stories have unfolded and will continue to unfold long after I’m gone. That’s the beauty of this multilayered city: it unravels you, and no one’s unraveling is alike. Yes,... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-08-25 11:00:12 UTC ]
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It’s Time for Disabled Writers to Tell Their Own Stories

Alice Wong’s work as an activist, podcaster, writer, qualitative researcher, and editor is on full display in her new anthology Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century. Her new anthology is an extension of the projects she’s become known when it comes to always... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-08-19 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Woodward's Next Trump Book Gets Title, Details Revealed

Simon & Schuster's dominance over the Trump exposé category is likely to be reaffirmed this September 15, when the publisher will release 'Rage,' the latest title by the Pulitzer Prize–winning 'Washington Post' reporter. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-08-13 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The Delicate Balancing Act of Black Women’s Memoir

As Crown Publishing predicted, readers eagerly anticipated Michelle Obama’s Becoming. Autobiography and memoir are best selling categories because virtually everyone enjoys learning about the private life of public figures. In this case, many were curious about the woman who seemed to rise above... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-08-12 11:00:00 UTC ]
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An Unconventional Love Story, Told In Trinidadian Dialect

Ingrid Persaud made the grandest of debuts in the literary world by winning the BBC Short Story Award in 2018 with “The Sweet Sop,” the first short story she ever wrote. After this extremely auspicious beginning, the Trinidad-born writer, whose resume includes stints in legal academia and art... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-08-04 11:00:00 UTC ]
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The Essential Steven Millhauser: Where to Start With An Underrated American Master

Steven Millhauser: Pulitzer Prize winner. Certified Writer’s Writer. Big in France. Reported Ping-Pong champ. A master short story writer who never quite seems to get his due. George Saunders before George Saunders, though sans the gooey center. Lit Hub’s own Jonny Diamond recently called him... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-08-03 08:49:28 UTC ]
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A Queer Memoir About Navigating Toxic Masculinity

I met David Adjmi at a fancy writing residency. The kind of place where you work all day alone and then eat dinner together, have a drink in the parlor afterwards. I remember a night when someone suggested watching a movie. As people were perusing the house copy of the criterion collection... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-07-31 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Emma Straub on the Future of Indie Bookstores

Emma Straub is a New York Times bestselling author and owner of the beloved independent bookstore, Books Are Magic in Brooklyn. Her latest novel, All Adults Here, explores the complexity of love for your family, the love for yourself, and for the town you grew up in.  The story revolves around... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2020-07-30 11:00:00 UTC ]
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