Americans on both sides of the political aisle were opposed to banning books, although it also found stark differences when it came to how issues of race should be taught in the classroom, and it’s this divide that has muddied the banned-book debate currently raging in schools. - FiveThirtyEight
"The book list includes novels that have been taught for generations, including To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. It also includes the Harry Potter series and the biblical Song of Solomon. ... But the list is a fiction." - USA Today
“We” didn’t cause climate disruption; ExxonMobil did. In these types of, albeit nonfictional, narratives, the push is precisely to rescue the “figure-ground” narrative form from the historically false way of telling the story as if vast numbers of undifferentiated humans played equal roles in the drama. - The Nation
BookTok is real. A co-owner of The Ripped Bodice in Los Angeles says, "'We'll get a rush of customers asking for something random and we're like, 'Why does everyone want this specific book?'' ... The answer is always TikTok." - NPR
"I went to an Erewhon supermarket in a hazmat suit. I chopped vegetables and did nothing with them. I put on makeup and rolled FaceTime calls. A director told me there was no longer a place for people like me in the movies." - The New York Times
"When I was first talking to my editors about my idea, they listened carefully and literally said: 'I dunno, it sounds kinda out there… you don’t write science fiction.'" - The Guardian (UK)
Many librarians, rightly so, are incredibly fearful for their personal safety, for their family’s safety, for their job security. They don’t feel at liberty to speak out. - Christian Science Monitor
Literature’s history is a history of mistakes, errors, misapprehensions, simple typos. It’s the shadow narrative of expression—how we fail because of sloppiness, or ignorance, or simple tiredness. Blessed are the copyeditors, for theirs is a war of eternal attrition. - The Millions
Dick Tofel: "First, let me be clear: I am not advocating eliminating the best longform stories that continue to distinguish many of these magazines. ... I am proposing saving on the very considerable expense of separately printing (often on higher quality paper), binding and inserting Sunday magazines." - Second Rough Draft
Adrian Chiles: "Whenever I read back anything I have written, I think how I could have written it better. ... Having to read your words out loud takes this to a new level, subjecting your prose to the sternest, most unforgiving test." - The Guardian
"In recent years, amid unrelenting demand for safety-net services, libraries ... offer help accessing housing, food stamps, medical care, and sometimes even showers or haircuts. Librarians, in turn, have been called on to play the role of welfare workers, first responders, therapists, and security guards." - California Healthline
Despite my many frustrations with traditional publishing, I’ve chosen to believe in it because I think it gets a few things right. For one, it doesn’t charge artists, starving or not, to have their books published. - LitHub
Certain corners of Twitter need to be reminded of this: a bitter argument broke out last week between those who find him an insufferable incel and those who insist he's an abused and bereaved teenager who deserves compassion (and those who disagree are heartless). Folks, remember: Holden is fictional. - Vulture
