DNA testing is not a black-tie occasion
The Old Hag posts “the notorious ‘ass’ section” of A.M. Homes’ adoption memoir, The Mistress’ Daughter.
The New Yorker: defying Aristotelian conventions?
Balk uncovers parallels between the families of The Sopranos and The New Yorker thanks to Remnick’s Family Guy.
Jean Thompson on favors writers ask and are asked
Not only did David Sedaris include one of Jean Thompson’s short stories in his anthology of personal favorites, he was so smitten with her first collection that he sold copies on his own book tour.
Proselytizing feels effortless when you love a work of fiction. But at least as often, writers are asked to [...]
Another reason to wish I had cable
Terry reports that Quartet (the source of that Maugham audio clip) is showing tonight on TCM with the other Maugham anthology films.
The opposite of a vanity press
Two friends founded a press “to publish one single book, the one that they loved the most, and to share their love for it with all other Italian readers.” (Via.)
Peck on Baker’s Dominion
Dale Peck, who is wrongly accused of not liking anything, praises Calvin Baker’s Dominion in New York’s list of “the best novels you’ve never read.”
Joy-of gift trilogy: sex, cooking, and now drinking
Barbara Holland wrote The Joy of Drinking to counter the rise of exercise, bottled water, and other joy-killers. (Via.)
Before the serifs come out dancing
Nicholson Baker and Jonathan Lethem both compose first drafts in (my beloved) Courier. (Via.)
The remains of British cathedrals in Manhattan
Jeff Byles’ Rubble tracks the history of demolition, and notes that the landfill underlying NYC’s FDR Drive consists largely of British WWII ruins.
NYC MFAs
New York profiles six NYC writing students, including my friend Maaza Mengiste, who recommended American Youth on this site last month.
No more cakes and ale: Maugham v. The Literati
The first two chapters of Somerset Maugham’s Cakes and Ale are so bitchily insightful about the hypocrisies of literary culture that, if you’re a writer, your loved ones might want to hide out somewhere else while you’re reading it, lest you follow them around the house, cackling over and orating your favorite parts.
Scandal [...]
The Smart Set: Lauren Cerand’s Six-Day Forecast
The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30pm and highlights the best of the week to come. Special favor is given to New York’s independent booksellers and venues, and low-cost and free events. Please send details to lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to publication, [...]
Monthly 20,000-book bonfires
A bookstore owner whose books were rejected by libraries and thrift stores is burning his overstock to protest “diminishing support for the printed word.”
Summer reading at Talk of the Nation
ZZ Packer, Laura Miller, and I will be on Talk of the Nation this afternoon for a segment devoted to summer reading.
I don’t naturally think of books in terms of seasons, but in the past few years I’ve realized that my most manic reading experiences tend to happen in warm weather. See, e.g., [...]
Happy weekend from Aunt Alma and the new puppies
Until all this family memorabilia came my way, I didn’t know that many picture postcards sent in the early 1900s were photos of people’s relatives.
Last week’s shot of a scowling Martha Caroline and her barefoot granddaughters is an example, though it wasn’t actually mailed.
Here’s a cheerier one, of Alma Kinchen, my [...]