Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of The Little Prince and Wind, Sand and Stars, disappeared while on a spy mission for the Allies during World War II. The wreckage of his plane was positively identified only last year. Although the cause of the crash remains unknown, there is some suspicion that he committed suicide. For the Guardian last weekend, Robert Macfarlane . . .
I thought the Yankee or Dixie Dialect quiz had disappeared forever, but some kind soul has resurrected it here. (Thanks, Andrew.) In February, 2004, I scored 72% Dixie. Today I got 70%. Am I doomed to lose 2% more of my semi-native tongue with every year I stay in the Northeast? Longtime readers will have picked up on my . . .
While gearing up to reread F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night,* I decided to take a look at Fitzgerald’s Contemporary Authors profile. It includes this brief excerpt from a letter Fitzgerald wrote to John Peale Bishop about the differences between Gatsby and Tender is the Night: The intention in the two books was entirely different…. Gatsby was shooting at . . .
Because I bowed out of the Litblog Co-op citing personal and other obligations, I can see why some people, including the proprietor of The Literary Saloon, would take umbrage at this section of Joy Press’ Village Voice article about book blogs: Newton says she declined because she’s already juggling a full load among her blog, a novel in progress, freelance . . .
Despite occasional entreaties from readers, I haven’t been very good at staying on top of The Paris Review‘s DNA of Literature Project. It’s so impressive — so accessible and extensive — that I end up stalling every time the magazine posts another decade’s worth of interviews. The 70’s interviews went up a few weeks ago, and I’ve finally read Linda . . .