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 ]
News tagged with: #jennifer egan #feel optimistic #human nature #goon squad #human beings #prize-winning author

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Martha Baillie on the Ethics of Making Literature From a Loved One’s Suffering

In all of Martha Baillie’s books you can feel her sister. Her words offer a portal to the multiplistic experiences of existence—to understand better how cut off we can be from each other and where true connection flickers too. This year, Baillie’s memoir There is No Blue was published by Granta... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2024-08-23 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #memoir #electric literature #granta books


IBPA and EveryLibrary Make a Play for the Freedom to Read

We Are Stronger Than Censorship is a new program aiming to supply diverse books to young readers, which has begun fundraising and bringing partners on board ahead of a September 9 launch. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-08-22 04:00:00 UTC ]
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What the Deliberate Targeting of Libraries Reveals About the Nature of War

Sarajevo, 1992. My mother’s uncle, Dobrivoje Beljkašić, or Dobri for short, was 68 when the siege of his hometown began. He was a landscape painter renowned for painting Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Ottoman bridges. His magnificent studio was above the National Library in the old City Hall in... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2024-08-20 08:56:15 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #libraries #city hall #national library


The Google TV Streamer makes Apple TV look dated

The Google TV streamer, a Chromecast replacement, is truly an AI-first device, using Gemini to offer content summaries and screen savers. The Apple TV version, with Apple Intelligence, can’t be far behind. I’ve long been a fan of the Apple TV (Apple’s digital media player set-top, box–not to be... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2024-08-17 09:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital media #operating system #large part #streaming service #apple tv #set-top box


Wainwright Nature Writing Book Prizes: Three 2024 Shortlists

No specific category exists at the Wainwright Prize for climate-crisis books, although several 2024 shortlistees touch on the emergency. The post Wainwright Nature Writing Book Prizes: Three 2024 Shortlists appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-08-15 20:55:02 UTC ]
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CIA brainwashing experiments helped make Outlast an iconic horror series

The Sleep Room in The Outlast Trials is named after a real-life space at McGill University’s Allan Memorial Institute in Montreal, where from 1957 to 1964, doctors conducted mind-control experiments on patients as part of the CIA’s MK-Ultra initiative. Led by Dr. Donald Ewen Cameron, these tests... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2024-08-14 19:50:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #graphic novel #art director #recently hired #creative process


Novelist Kate Atkinson: ‘I do feel a need to prove myself’

As her latest Jackson Brodie thriller comes out, the award-winning author discusses cosy crime, sniffy critics, and how she investigated her own family’s secretsKate Atkinson has an idea for a fun side-hustle: at some point in the future, when she’s done with the second world war, and with her... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-08-10 08:00:37 UTC ]
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With a new life and fresh ideas, Sandra Lee makes a TV comeback with a Netflix food competition show

Cookbook author and TV personality Sandra Lee is a co-host and judge on a new Netflix competition series called “Blue Ribbon Baking Championship" out Friday Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2024-08-08 14:54:47 UTC ]
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Poems can inspire us to appreciate nature and spark positive action - Simon Armitage’s new anthology does both

Discovering beauty and urgency in nature: Simon Armitage’s Blossomise merges poetic grace with environmental activism. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2024-08-06 11:55:49 UTC ]
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Freud's Writings Get an Update—30 Years in the Making

'The Revised Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud,' copublished by Rowman & Littlefield and the Institute of Psychoanalysis, took three decades for editor and translator Mark Solms to complete. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-08-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
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SDCC 2024: Kids’ Comics Make a Comeback

While children colored Bluey pages and adults geeked out over the latest Marvel and DC announcements, there were indications of a growing middle ground of titles for all ages at last month’s Comic-Con International in San Diego. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-08-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Indie Presses Make Welcoming Homes for Immigrant Writing

At Restless Books, Black Lawrence Press, and Academic Studies Press, first-generation American editors want to hear from writers with cross-cultural stories to tell. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-07-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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War, Trauma, and Human Courage: A Conversation with Zhang Ling, by Yan Lu

War, Trauma, and Human Courage: A Conversation with Zhang Ling, by Yan Lu Interviews [email protected] Mon, 07/22/2024 - 16:20 Zhang Ling is the author of ten novels, including A Single Swallow (trans. Shelly Bryant) and Where Waters Meet, the... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2024-07-22 21:20:19 UTC ]
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A new generation of authors is finally making book merch interesting

Sable Yong’s debut book comes with some unusual marketing merchandise—a perfume to match. Sable Yong always wanted to make a perfume. She calls herself a “frag-head,” having previously written about fragrances for Allure and hosting the podcast Smell Ya Later with Tynan Sinks. Still, producing... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2024-07-22 09:00:00 UTC ]
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In London: Publishers Say They’re ‘Optimistic’ About Labour’s Victory

The Publishers Association enumerates promising appointments for the creative industries just made by the UK's new Labour government. The post In London: Publishers Say They’re ‘Optimistic’ About Labour’s Victory appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-07-08 22:21:50 UTC ]
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2 Books to Make You Love Karaoke, or at Least Respect It

In a memoir and a novel, the characters deal with grief by singing in front of strangers. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2024-06-29 11:50:03 UTC ]
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Engadget Podcast: Motorola's 2024 Razrs make a compelling case for foldables

Motorola is still trying to reclaim the glory of its original Razr phone with its latest foldables. The new Razr and Razr+ are more stylish than the previous models, and at $700 and $1,000 respectively, they're surprisingly affordable for devices with massive folding OLED screens. In other news,... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2024-06-28 11:30:27 UTC ]
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The Holocaust Doesn’t Come Out of Nowhere: PW Talks with Solomon J. Brager

The author of 'Heavyweight,' which draws lines between the German genocide of the Herero and Nama peoples in South Africa and the Holocaust, hopes that memory and narrative can create a more inclusive culture—one with ample humor and creativity. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2024-06-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Toys 'R' Us uses OpenAI's Sora to make a brand film about its origin story and it’s horrifying

The rise of artificial intelligence in our media and entertainment industries has raised a lot of concerns about programs like Open Al’s text-to-video maker Sora replacing the artistic endeavors and aspirations of humans. If those AI made movies are anything like a new brand film about the Toys... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2024-06-25 21:47:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #dr. seuss #fell swoop #current state #magical place


Springer Nature in the UK: Two AI Tools Aim at Fake Research

The bid to protect valid research amid a rising tide of fake content is driving Springer Nature to create new in-house tools for detection. The post Springer Nature in the UK: Two AI Tools Aim at Fake Research appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2024-06-20 21:56:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #springer nature #rising tide