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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Jen Silverman on Re-reading, Making a Tarot Deck, and Other Kinds of Escape

Jen Silverman’s novel, We Play Ourselves, is out now in paperback from Random House, so we asked about her favorite books to give to friends, the best stories to revisit, and how she procrastinates. * What is your favorite book to give as a gift? I am bad at many things in life, among them... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-05-24 08:51:33 UTC ]
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Jim Murphy, children’s author who humanized U.S. history, dies at 74

His books about the Great Chicago Fire and America’s first epidemic were Newbery Honor winners. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-05-19 22:43:48 UTC ]
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Kellyanne Conway Accuses George Conway Of Cheating On Her — With Twitter

Donald Trump's former White House adviser admits in her new memoir that she had a hard time competing with her husband's "new fling." Continue reading at HuffPost

[ HuffPost | 2022-05-19 20:47:28 UTC ]
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Thin-skinned Jordan Peterson is wrong about everything but right about Twitter | Arwa Mahdawi

The academic has quit the platform in a huff after he was criticised for calling the Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Yumi Nu ‘not beautiful’Jordan Peterson is an academic, an internet personality, and a big fan of beef. A man of many accomplishments, he’s most famous for writing a bestselling... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-05-17 16:58:34 UTC ]
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Selma Blair shares stories of abuse and MS, but she doesn’t want pity

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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Springer Nature Opens Open-Access Book Deal with Max Planck Society

Springer Nature calls its arrangement, through the Max Planck Digital Library, its largest open-access institutional book deal yet. By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson More Than 80 Max Planck Institutes Participating in an agreement the company calls its largest institutional... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-05-13 00:44:39 UTC ]
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Medieval Scholars Spar on a Modern Battlefield: Twitter

An online fracas over a book review is the latest blowup in a field that has been roiled in recent years with acrimonious debate over race. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2022-05-07 02:32:24 UTC ]
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A bookstore owner’s petition to make Harriet Tubman Day a federal holiday is almost at 8,000 signatures.

A worthy cause for you this Thursday: a bookstore owner’s petition to make Harriet Tubman Day a federal holiday (and the first federal holiday named for an American woman) is at nearly 8,000 signatures, and you can add your name here. The petition was created by Jeannine Cook, owner of Harriet’s... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-05-05 16:26:12 UTC ]
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Rep. Lauren Boebert Says She Wrote A Book And Twitter Users Are Absolutely Baffled

The far-right lawmaker's history of botching both spelling and facts has many wondering just what's in her book. Continue reading at The Huffington Post

[ The Huffington Post | 2022-05-05 09:16:38 UTC ]
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In ‘Remarkably Bright Creatures,’ an octopus tells a feel-good story

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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IAB NewFronts 2022—Amy Poehler gets a Twitch lesson and Snap makes a Cameo

Welcome to Ad Age’s NewFronts 2022 newsletter. We’ll be sharing a daily roundup of events, interviews and sessions from IAB. You can sign up here to get updates delivered to your inbox.Amy Poehler’s Twitch tutorial Comedian Amy Poehler helped Amazon’s pitch to media buyers on Monday, at the... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2022-05-03 23:15:06 UTC ]
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Why the wheels of human history seemed to turn faster for some

Oded Galor examines the drivers of progress and innovation, and the reasons for inequality. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-04-29 12:00:53 UTC ]
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What makes puzzles so alluring? A.J. Jacobs looks for clues.

In his new book “The Puzzler,” Jacobs explores the history and psychology of games like Sudoku and Wordle. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2022-04-29 10:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing Two Ways Makes Rowman & Littlefield a Winner

The combination of professional and trade publishing keeps one of the country's largest independent publishers moving forward. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-04-29 04:00:00 UTC ]
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L.A. Times Book Festival: Janelle Monáe feels like she's living her 'second Earth life'

Janelle Monáe was joined by Times columnist Erika D. Smith to discuss her book 'The Memory Librarian' on Saturday at the L.A. Times Book Festival. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-04-24 17:01:01 UTC ]
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Jennifer Grey Opens Up On Nose Job That Made Her ‘Completely Invisible’

“In the world's eyes, I was no longer me,” the “Dirty Dancing” star said of life after her rhinoplasty. Continue reading at The Huffington Post

[ The Huffington Post | 2022-04-19 00:17:04 UTC ]
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The New York Public Library makes four banned books free nationwide on its e-reader app

The New York Public Library made four banned books available nationwide on SimplyE, its free-reader app. The titles include Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender, Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi and Catcher in the... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-04-13 23:48:05 UTC ]
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Springer Nature Beefs Up Its Hay Festival Programming Support

The scholarly publishing company Springer Nature presents several events in environmentally relevant work at Hay. The post Springer Nature Beefs Up Its Hay Festival Programming Support appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-04-12 21:10:53 UTC ]
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'Slow Horses' makes me glad I forgot to cancel Apple TV+

Confession time: I’d never read any John LeCarré until after I’d seen the 2011 film of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. It’s a brilliant movie, and one that sent me scuttling to read the Karla trilogy and then watch the two excellent Alec Guinness adaptations. After devouring the first two episodes of... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-04-07 16:00:47 UTC ]
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During London Book Fair: Springer Nature on Carbon-Neutral Targets

The new edition of Springer Nature's report is based on the company's 'responsibility of impact as a business and publisher. The post During London Book Fair: Springer Nature on Carbon-Neutral Targets appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-04-07 02:57:22 UTC ]
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