Essay “Literature was a vast minefield occupied by enemies,” Roberto Bolaño, who enjoyed accruing enemies in the pantheon of Latin American letters, writes in the short story “Meeting with Enrique Lihn” (New Yorker, December 22, 2008): except for a few classic authors (just a few), and every day I had to walk through that minefield, where any false move could be fatal, with only the poems of Archilochus to guide me. It’s like that for all young writers. There comes a time when you have no support, not even from friends, forget about mentors, and there’s no one to give you a hand; publication, prizes, and grants are reserved for the others, the ones who said “Yes, sir,” over and over, or those who praised the literary mandarins, a never-ending horde distinguished only by their aptitude for discipline and punishment—nothing escapes them and they forgive nothing. Aptitude for discipline and punishment Bolaño himself had aplenty, too. And in spite of his precarious health, he had stamina. At a young age, he had made up his mind he would die. Who cared if he annoyed others? His mission, as is clear from The Savage Detectives (1998), was to upend that tradition, to take it by the neck and expose its platitudes. What is the use of sacred cows if not to be desecrated? Indeed, every tradition needs an enfant terrible, maybe more than one. When was the last time a rabble-rouser came along in Latin American literature? As Bolaño put it in... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2022-02-28 21:05:10 UTC ]
The best science fiction and fantasy book deals of the day, curated by Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-10-02 14:03:24 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Lydia Davis’ new collection Our Strangers, is available now from Bookshop Editions, so we asked her a few questions about her writing, reading, and more. How do you tackle writer’s block? I don’t really have writer’s block anymore. When I first started out, I certainly did just sit there... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-10-02 09:00:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this
If anyone has ever told you Dune is a “tough read,” it would be interesting to see if that same person was able to read an eight‑hundred‑page Stephen King or Harry Potter novel. Although there are dozens and dozens of characters, and various layers of politics, religion, philosophy, and science... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-09-27 09:40:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this
AI will change the way that we work. Or so says the most fervent purveyors of the tech, which now includes Microsoft. But after seeing ChatGPT, Dall-E, and other AI systems integrated into the latest versions of Windows 11, Office, and the company’s Microsoft 365 platform, I can’t say that... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2023-09-26 17:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The best science fiction and fantasy book deals of the day, curated by Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-09-25 13:38:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this
“What are we willing to fight for? What do we deserve, morally speaking? What is our place, our relationship with the universe, with nature?”During a preview of The Talos Principle 2 in August, series writer Jonas Kyratzes posed 19 questions about the essence of humanity in just 90 seconds.... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-09-19 16:00:14 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The best science fiction and fantasy book deals of the day, curated by Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-09-18 13:32:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The co-owner of San Francisco's Bookshop West Portal and founder of onetime Bay Area bookselling staple A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books, died on September 6. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-09-18 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Looking for a work of science fiction that will make you really think? Welcome to these philosophical sci-fi books! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-09-15 10:33:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The best science fiction and fantasy book deals of the day, curated by Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-09-11 13:32:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A great spaceship can make a science fiction story soar. See if you can guess which stories these famous spaceships belong to. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-09-05 10:36:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The best science fiction and fantasy book deals of the day, curated by Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-08-28 14:39:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Nobody would dare to boil down Ursula Le Guin’s marvelous writing—all that fantasy, all that science fiction, poetry, essays, translations—into one idea. But in a pinch I’d pick two sentences from her 2014 National Book Award speech: “Capitalism[’s] power seems inescapable. So did the divine... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-08-24 10:00:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The best science fiction and fantasy book deals of the day, curated by Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-08-21 14:27:59 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The best science fiction and fantasy book deals of the day, curated by Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-08-14 14:38:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow overtook titles by David Walliams and Colleen Hoover to become the UK’s number one bestseller. The author, booksellers and fans reflect on how it became a literary phenomenonTomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow’s distinctive cover, with its image of Hokusai’s... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-08-11 10:00:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this
From classics to modern marvels to young adult adventures, here are the bestselling science fiction books of all time. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-08-08 10:31:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The best science fiction and fantasy book deals of the day, curated by Book Riot. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-08-07 14:42:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘Eyes Do More Than See’ is a very short story by Isaac Asimov (1920-92), which originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in April 1965. Background The story had a curious genesis. In 1964, Playboy magazine (which published... Continue reading at Interesting Literature
[ Interesting Literature | 2023-08-06 14:00:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this
These new science fiction and fantasy books out August 2023, including More Perfect by Temi Oh, deal with everything from ghosts to aliens to war machines. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-08-03 10:33:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this