A favorable Publisher’s Weekly review singles out my contribution to Michael Taeckens’ forthcoming anthology, Love is a Four-Letter Word, and Kirkus says, “Standouts include Junot Diaz’s ‘Homecoming, with Turtle,’ Gary Shteyngart’s ‘Texas’ and Maud Newton’s ‘Conversations You Have at Twenty.’” While I’m pointing to positive notices: New Yorker Book Bench contributor Andrea Walker made me equal parts giddy and anxious . . .
In Italo Calvino news: Invisible Cities opera preview leaves critic underwhelmed; a new collection includes seven stories never before translated. (Via.)
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 . . .
“In the early 20th century, it looked like mysticism, math, physics, philosophy, and religion would become cozy roommates.”
My latest NPR appreciation is of Who Is Mark Twain?, a collection of previously unpublished writings by my favorite essayist. Here’s an excerpt: Best known for crowd-pleasers like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, and for his lucrative speaking tours, Mark Twain was a writer whose livelihood depended on maintaining enough down-home affability to appeal to the masses. Yet as we . . .