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Inspired by Achebe

“Would anyone possibly buy a novel by an African?” At Salon, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie offers an appreciation of Chinua Achebe.

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Thomson’s This Party’s Got to Stop

  “My mother spoke to me once after she was dead.” That’s the first sentence of Rupert Thomson’s forthcoming memoir, This Party’s Got to Stop, which I started reading last night and am loving and rationing. (I’m in lockdown at my sister’s place, getting some writing done; also, I’ve waited a long time for this book and don’t want to . . .

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The elderly Norman Mailer

I’m curious about Dwayne Raymond’s memoir of his friendship with Norman Mailer. See also When Mailer almost profiled Obama.

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Against Self-Reliance?

Should Emerson be ejected from the canon? Two professors say he writes like a crazy person and teaches students to do the same. Sonya Chung disagrees.

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