Michael Chabon has a great essay in this week’s issue of The New York Review of Books about the inherent literary potential of childhood. Some of my favorite stories have children as protagonists or main characters, but I’ve been reluctant to wonder why that is, thinking that I probably like childhood stories because I am easily seduced by nostalgia. But no! Chabon articulates a more complex reason that childhood narratives are so appealing: “Childhood is, or has been, or ought to be, the great original adventure, a tale of privation, courage, constant vigilance, danger, and sometimes calamity.”
The Greatest Adventure Story
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July 13th, 2009 / 3:39 pm
July 13th, 2009 / 3:39 pm
Adam Robinson—
The new issue of JMWW is now live. Some neat stuff in there, including an excerpt of something new by Madison Smartt Bell and an extremely frustrating (but hilarious) thing by Jamie Iredell. There might even be a thing in there by J. A. Tyler. See for yourself.
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Decipher an ee cummings poem
Keith Nathan Brown shared this poem with me. He had some opinions on its meaning as did I. After the jump, I’ll share his and my ideas. READ MORE >
travel reading
I feel like Jessa Crispin right now. Doesn’t/didn’t she always blog about what books to pack for trips? Well, this time tomorrow I’ll be at JFK, boarding a plane to Hong Kong, where I’ll be spending the next month. (No worries, I’ll still be wired there, so you’ll hear from me, albeit perhaps in the middle of the night, since HK is 12 or 13 hours ahead of the East Coast.) Anyway, I’m trying to pack my reading materials for the trip, and have narrowed the list down to a dozenish candidates. I’ll probably take about half that many. The idea is to ensure a variety of options (I learned last year that English language bookstores in HK are basically non-existent, and what’s on offer tends to be horrible) but without making my bag weigh 100 pounds. Read the list and feel free to vote for favorites or suggest other options, though at this point, if your picks aren’t already in my bedroom they’re probably out of the running.
Justin Taylor—
This weekend at Coop’s place, a guest-post from one of DC’s regulars explores the question- Do the Angels in John Milton’s Paradise Lost have gay sex?
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Justin Taylor—
A thousand and one cheers to my friend Nick Burd, whose debut novel, The Vast Fields of Ordinary, just got made very nice to by Ned Vizzini in the NYT.
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Friday “Fuck Books, Let’s Dance”: The Truth
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WokfJUK0nAk