Overlooked 2011 Pulitzer contenders?
The New York Times Magazine asked some writers and critics, including me, which 2011 novel they’d have given the Pulitzer to. I say Mat Johnson’s Pym. Nominate your choice here.
Talking with Ron Rash, April 25, 7 p.m.
“Almost all of the great books are regional books,” Ron Rash (Serena) has said. “Landscape is destiny.” We’ll be talking about his latest novel, The Cove, on April 25, at McNally Jackson.
Class by association
My friend Philip Connors’ excellent Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout, an Orion Prize finalist, is out in paperback. Our Paris Review interview, which spilled over onto this site, is included.
Life vs. the novel
At Bookslut, Elizabeth Bachner wonders “whether, on average, people are lonelier in real life than in novels.”
Exceeding your RDA of “um” and “I think”
I spoke with the Nervous Breakdown’s Brad Listi for an hour last month about writing, blogging, day jobs, personal stuff, and why I’m not reviewing nowadays. You can listen at Other People Podcast.
Junot Díaz doings
On the heels of news that Junot Díaz will have a new collection of stories out this fall, the Times reports that he wrote the introduction to the Library of America’s forthcoming reissue of the pulp novel Princess of Mars.
James Wood on Santorum’s planet
I’m interested in James Wood’s writings on religion, including his novel, The Book Against God, which I read recently. Here he is on Santorum’s attitudes toward the environment. (See also.)
Reduced to the size of the proposal
“The most successful nonfiction books are those that can be boiled down into an argument so that everybody can wade in with an opinion without having to undergo the inconvenience of having to read the book itself.” — Geoff Dyer
Edward St. Aubyn’s sole NYC appearance
Edward St. Aubyn, whose social comedy is “more reminiscent of Evelyn Waugh, Anthony Powell or Nancy Mitford than of anyone writing today,” appears Upstairs at the Square this Wednesday.
Sightings of the Virgin
“Once the Virgin Mary was released into the world, the world took her and ran in different directions.” Jessa Crispin ponders religious icons.
Reader burnout
Revisiting the problem of overdosing on beloved writers, or, in Matthew Lickona’s case, filmmakers.
Finishing no matter what
“I think if somebody has to make an artistic work, he will finish it no matter what. It has nothing to do with the money, with the time.” — Marjane Satrapi
