No hero's journey narrative could possibly fit the times. "Writers choose to believe in the power of stories because it gives us hope. ... The problem is that some of the most urgent and lethal challenges our society is facing are too giant and unwieldy to fit." - The Guardian (UK)
Maggie O'Farrell, author of Hamnet, knows - as did one of her COVID companions, Virginia Woolf. "Perhaps we all develop methods to survive the knocks of significant illnesses, ways to pick ourselves up and face the next day and the next." - The Guardian (UK)
Just in case you weren't riveted on Twitter, "the three-week trial offered an unusual glimpse into the world of publishing, offering observers a parade of high-profile publishing executives, agents and authors speaking frankly and on the record." - The New York Times
"One of his defining acts (was) helping organize a 2012 caravan to Arizona with books outlawed as part of a state ban on Mexican American studies. ... (But he's also) one of the most active and exuberant advocates of Latino writing and writers in Texas." - The Christian Science Monitor
It is not that I think we should scrap existing syllabi, but rather that we must make room for other storytelling traditions in these programs. And this must start with reading... What is being taught as universal rules of good writing in these programs is nothing more than a highly narrow understanding of literary taste. - The Millions
“This is a state-sponsored purging of ideas and identities that has no precedent in the United States of America. We’re witnessing the silencing of stories and the suppressing of information the next generation less able to function in society.” - Washington Post
A team of European researchers, using a method borrowed from biostatistics called the "unseen species model," has estimated that 90% of the literary manuscripts (i.e., not counting religious texts), and one-third of the stories, from the era have disappeared for good. - Hyperallergic
"Now the staff of the Michigan library is considering ways to use the object to examine the methods and motivations behind forgeries, potentially making it the centerpiece of a future exhibit or symposium. 'The forgery is a really good one,' said (the university's dean of libraries)." - The New York Times
The spectacle has been curiously entertaining. Publishing executives have had to initiate federal employees into a dialect of “backlists,” “advance copies,” and “BookTok influencers.” Onlookers have been treated to piquant performances. - The New Yorker
“The mood music seemed that ‘leisure’ activities had to be jettisoned due to the already felt increased cost of fuel/food, and there was a palpable anxiety about how much more expensive life may yet become and for how long the cost-of-living pressures would be felt.” - The Guardian
"Rushdie helped change how ... Europe and North America saw desis. He defied stereotypes and resisted all assumptions. He became, through no choice of his own, a hero for free expression and courage in the face of oppression. That role opened up possibilities" for other desis in the West. - The New Republic
The writer recounting this story lived to tell the tale but feels the need, even now, to remain anonymous. The bookseller's answer was, perhaps, a bit surprising as well. - The Guardian
Why? "Having a romance-only bookstore, says, has helped fans feel a little better about their passion for these stories. Readers tell Pool how grateful they are that Happily Ever After exists, since they’ve often suffered from the romance-novel stigma." - Toronto Star
"The translator , Hitoshi Igarashi, was stabbed to death at age 44 at Tsukuba University, northeast of Tokyo, where he had been teaching comparative Islamic culture for five years. No arrests were ever made, and the crime remains unsolved." - The New York Times
A lengthy court battle concludes with the author of The Last Unicorn wresting control of his finances and his work back from a manager. "The book consistently sells 15,000 to 20,000 a year — sales that would be a strong showing for a new book." - The New York Times
