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Mantel on Coetzee

Hilary Mantel on Diary of a Bad Year: “Some writers begin by lulling their readers, some by shocking them. J.M. Coetzee begins by starting an argument.”

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In the kitchen with Donald Barthelme

2007 was a year of restraint. I got through a Thanksgiving without invoking Donald Barthelme. Still, no writers’ recipe project would be complete without a mention of Don B.’s soup recipes or event catering strategies. And Soft Skull gives me the perfect excuse: a reprint of The Teachings of Don B., complete with Pynchon introduction, is forthcoming next month. Here’s . . .

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