The brutally candid Elena Ferrante
Elena Ferrante’s blistering The Days of Abandonment has me dying to read the complete works of this mysterious — and furious — Italian author.
Elena Ferrante’s blistering The Days of Abandonment has me dying to read the complete works of this mysterious — and furious — Italian author.
Writing under the threat of censorship, Coetzee has said, is like being intimate with someone who does not love you.
In my friend Susan Maddux’s gorgeous Hawaii watercolors, nature and technology cohabitate so convincingly, you can almost feel the heat radiating off the satellite dish. I haven’t been back to South Florida in several years, but so much of my novel takes place there, I can’t get enough of the sensory associations these paintings inspire. No matter what drab square . . .
Colin Marshall interviews me — thoughtfully and at length — for his Marketplace of Ideas show, and inadvertently reminds me why I usually prefer to answer questions in email: Once I start talking, I do not shut up. No wonder my friends never answer their cellphones. Also, good God. Evidently I say “I think” the way some people say “um.” . . .
The Smart Set is a weekly feature, compiled and posted by Lauren Cerand, that usually appears Mondays at 12:30 pm, 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 Ms. Cerand at lauren [at] maudnewton.com by the Thursday prior to . . .