Essay John Weir Adapted from a photo by Jake weirick on Unsplash Like a dead pop star, Susan Sontag left behind a lot of fans who claim they knew her. After the release last September of Benjamin Moser’s new biography, Susan Sontag: Her Life and Work, they were all over the internet, sharing stories. Writers, of course. Especially queer writers. Does every queer writer who lived in New York City and published a book sometime between 1960 and 2000 have a Sontag story? I do! Here’s mine: Eighteen years ago, shortly after she won the National Book Award for her fourth novel, In America, some of which she had been accused of plagiarizing, and a few months before she published, in the New Yorker, maybe the only response to the 9/11 attacks, in their immediate aftermath, that was worth considering, she was invited, along with John Updike and Norman Mailer, to read at Queens College CUNY, where I teach creative writing. Surely the most impressive trio of literary bigwigs of a certain era ever to read together in Flushing. Three idols. I had long regarded their work with awe and envy. In my early twenties, in the 1980s, in a studio apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, hot and airless in summer, frigid in winter, I read—eagerly, jealously—everything they wrote. I was an aspiring writer, and they were my workshop instructors and problematic literary parents. Updike’s Couples taught me how to do a party scene. Mailer’s An American... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2020-01-07 22:09:56 UTC ]
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Genuinely classic and canonical short stories with twist endings are hard to find. For the ‘twist’ to be a true surprise, it needs to appear to come out of nowhere while also being completely credible, so we as readers don’t feel cheated. It should also be a twist in the […] Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2022-06-10 14:00:35 UTC ]
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Linda Villarosa offers data as well as vivid anecdotes to illustrate the biases that patients of color face. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-06-10 12:00:45 UTC ]
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The movement intends to "empty libraries of LGBTQ content aimed at kids" by checking out and hiding all LGBTQ books on library displays. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2022-06-06 13:35:02 UTC ]
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In 2014, book critic Dwight Garner published a lament in the New York Times for a seemingly forgotten literary masterpiece, the oral history All God’s Dangers. Published in 1974 by then-Harvard doctoral candidate Theodore Rosengarten, the autobiography was narrated by Nate Shaw, an illiterate... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2022-06-06 08:51:52 UTC ]
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Fathers are often domineering or formative presences in fiction, and the following classic short stories all focus on the important influence of fathers on their children, even though, in at least one of the stories listed here, the father is absent from the story itself. These stories are among... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2022-06-03 14:00:08 UTC ]
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Family plays an important part in much fiction, of course, but sometimes the short story form has offered us an insight into family life that the longer novel does not. Because it can only provide us with a few snapshots, or a handful of moments, perhaps even just one episode […] Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2022-05-27 14:00:35 UTC ]
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‘The Snake’ is a short story by the American author John Steinbeck (1902-68), published in The Monterey Beacon in 1935 before being included in Steinbeck’s collection The Long Valley in 1938. The story tells of a young scientist who is at work experimenting with animals in his laboratory when he […] Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2022-05-26 14:00:50 UTC ]
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An 18-year-old student and a 98-year-old survivor teamed up to write “Lily’s Promise,” a best-selling memoir of Auschwitz and its aftermath. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-05-26 09:00:09 UTC ]
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A selection of books published this week; plus, a peek at what our colleagues around the newsroom are reading. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-05-20 20:53:25 UTC ]
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Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) was a prolific novelist, short-story writer, and poet, who is perhaps best-known for classic children’s books like The Jungle Book and for poems like ‘If—’. But Kipling’s short stories for adults often get overlooked – a fact which is perhaps hardly surprising given... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2022-05-18 14:00:38 UTC ]
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In her memoir “Mean Baby,” the “Hellboy” actress opens up about her childhood and career and how she has coped with a variety of challenges Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-05-15 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The L.A. Times Book Clubs reads 'Letter to a Stranger,' a new collection that celebrates the serendipity of chance encounters. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-05-11 14:00:50 UTC ]
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Kim Stanley Robinson, one of the most acclaimed living science fiction writers, is done with deep space narratives. His focus now is on solving real problems — like climate change. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-05-11 09:00:20 UTC ]
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This faithful Netflix adaptation of a popular webcomic and graphic novel tells a heartwarming boy-meets-boy tale through live action and animation. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-05-09 20:44:12 UTC ]
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Lizz Huerta didn't get an MFA, but she did get an education while working on construction sites. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-05-05 10:00:00 UTC ]
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Shelby Van Pelt's novel joins the menagerie of books told from an animal's perspective. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-05-04 15:20:36 UTC ]
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Colin Barrett's second collection, 'Homesickness,' expands the reach of this mordantly funny Irishman beyond the small-town millennials of his debut. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-05-03 13:00:20 UTC ]
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Emily Binhgam’s new book explores the roots of the Kentucky Derby’s anthem. It may not be pretty, but it’s important to know. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2022-05-03 11:00:33 UTC ]
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“Liarmouth” is about three generations of women in one family who plan to confront or kill one another. It also has a trampoline fun park. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2022-05-03 09:00:08 UTC ]
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Bolotin helmed Workman Publishing for 22 years, after being recruited by Peter Workman in 2000 to be editorial director. She has retired as of May 1. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-05-02 04:00:00 UTC ]
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