Jennifer Egan: ‘Twitter doesn’t make me feel optimistic about human nature’

The Pulitzer prize-winning author discusses her follow up to A Visit from the Goon Squad and how imagining a new technology set her writing freeWhen Jennifer Egan bought her house in Brooklyn 20 years ago, it had been on the market for eight months. The owners were an elderly couple, and the place was distressed. “There were holes in the floor and the walls were drab,” says Egan, sitting in the kitchen of what is now a beautifully renovated property, full of lovely art and restored period details. Remembering how it was fills the 59-year-old novelist with a peculiar and very specific dread. “What really made it gloomy – and I’m very conscious of this – was that the family who’d lived here, the child had grown up, the parents had gotten old, and I think they’d stopped seeing it. There are moments when I think: is that happening now?”It’s the condition in which most of us live – after a while, we stop seeing our surroundings – and one against which Egan’s skill as a novelist is set. She is highly attuned to the falsifying effects of nostalgia, complacency, solipsism and ignorance of history, and to the delusions of uniqueness that dog every age. She is obsessed, for example, with the 1870s, “an amazing decade, because, except for the telegraph, almost none of the inventions we take for granted now – electricity, say – existed yet. And yet, 20 or 30 years later, there were cars. I think we underestimate the degree to which the change we experience is what it’s always been... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2022-04-16 08:00:03 UTC ]
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Amazon Makes the Cheapest Kindle Even Better

Plus: Alexa will soon give branded answers, ByteDance has its own VR headset in the works, and TikTok pushes a new BeReal knockoff. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2022-09-17 13:00:00 UTC ]
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Josh Hawley, the man who fled from danger of his own making, wrote a book called Manhood.

It was announced yesterday that Josh Hawley, the senator from Missouri who will always be remembered for fleeing the very crowd he’d recently egged on with a fist, has written a book called Manhood.* The book, to be published by Regnery, purports to call on “American men to stand up and embrace... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-09-09 14:22:03 UTC ]
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What Makes a Good Book Club Question?

What makes for a good book club question? Here are some tips to consider before your next book club meeting. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-09-09 10:37:00 UTC ]
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Finnish Research: Springer Nature Announces a Fourth Transformative Agreement

The new FinElib transformative agreement may reach researchers at as many as 30 institutions, according to Springer Nature. The post Finnish Research: Springer Nature Announces a Fourth Transformative Agreement appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-09-02 00:33:29 UTC ]
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Humans want to mine the moon. Here's what space law experts say the rules are

Mining the moon might sound like a concept that belongs in a science fiction novel, but it's likely to be a part of reality in the not-so-distant future. That's made it a hot topic of discussion among space lawyers — yes, there are space lawyers... Continue reading at CBC

[ CBC | 2022-09-01 08:00:00 UTC ]
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The Making of Acting Class

Nick Drnaso on the making of his new graphic novel Acting Class, in this exclusive mini-documentary. The post The Making of Acting Class appeared first on Granta. Continue reading at Granta

[ Granta | 2022-08-26 21:19:48 UTC ]
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‘Animal Joy’ is a necessary reminder of laughter’s cathartic nature

Nuar Alsadir explores how all types of outburst can act as conduits to our animal nature, that vibrant essence unconstrained by social code. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-08-18 12:14:36 UTC ]
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Three Raymond Briggs books that helped make the graphic novel respectable

Much of his work was imbued with a sense of the end, so it is fitting to look back at three of his best works to mark the illustrator’s passing Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2022-08-11 15:31:10 UTC ]
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Springer Nature and University of California Renew Deal

The agreement Springer Nature is touting with the University of California is an extension of its 2020 arrangement for research articles. The post Springer Nature and University of California Renew Deal appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-08-10 13:02:10 UTC ]
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What did Neil Gaiman need to change for The Sandman to make it to Netflix? Everything

It's taken 35 years, but Neil Gaiman believes he's done the impossible: adapt his hugely successful comic book The Sandman for the screen. He just had to wait until everything about movies, TV and media consumption changed before he could do it. ... Continue reading at CBC

[ CBC | 2022-08-05 08:00:00 UTC ]
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How Does Human History Blur into the Nonhuman World?

Emergence Magazine is an online publication with annual print edition exploring the threads connecting ecology, culture, and spirituality. As we experience the desecration of our lands and waters, the extinguishing of species, and a loss of sacred connection to the Earth, we look to emerging... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-08-01 08:51:54 UTC ]
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Twitter Users Emasculate Josh Hawley's Upcoming Book On 'Manhood'

One person joked that he was pretty sure the Missouri Senator's book would "fall well short of expectations." Continue reading at HuffPost

[ HuffPost | 2022-07-28 23:29:02 UTC ]
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How to watch actor Jennifer Grey at the L.A. Times Book Club

Jennifer Grey discusses her bestselling memoir, "Out of the Corner," and the "Dirty Dancing" sequel. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-07-27 22:08:56 UTC ]
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17 Novels That Would Make Great Graphic Novels

These stories, including The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, are great in prose, but they are crying out for a graphic novel adaptation to bring the visuals to life. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-07-26 10:31:00 UTC ]
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Six Americans Make the Booker Prize Longlist

The longlist for the Booker Prize has been announced, including six American authors: Hernan Diaz, Percival Everett, Karen Joy Fowler, Leila Mottley, Selby Wynn Schwartz, and Elizabeth Strout. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-07-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Keanu Reeves' comic book makes history

BRZRKR becomes the first comic book to feature in Comic-Con's prestigious Hall H. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2022-07-23 23:09:26 UTC ]
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In Lawrence Osborne’s novels, tourists can’t escape their true natures

"The Forgiven" author Lawrence Osborne discusses the impulses that drive his fiction. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-07-22 13:00:00 UTC ]
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Fun, Feel-Good, & Empowering Middle Grade and YA Science Fiction and Fantasy

These middle grade and young adult science fiction and fantasy books are empowering and fun, and will provide the best light-hearted escape, like The Lost Ryū by Emi Watanabe Cohen. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-07-20 10:33:00 UTC ]
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“I Did Not Get Anywhere Until I Became a True Literary Citizen.” Courtney Maum on Making a Writing Career

I remember the first time I met Courtney Maum. It was nearly ten years ago, a spring or maybe summer day in Brooklyn, Carroll Gardens. We were both in our twenties, no books published yet, just a few free essays here and there, just starting our writing careers with the fierce intensity of Jack... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-07-18 08:52:29 UTC ]
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