Narcissists believe themselves more creative than others, and consequently engage in more creative pursuits. A finding in equal parts hilarious and depressing?
Faulkner’s “splendid failure.”
Congratulations to MAKE literary magazine and to The Guild Complex (where I gave my first ever reading and got high in the bathroom because my ex-boyfriend from England was supposed to show up), alongside other Chicago arts organizations that received MacArthur awards.
The scandal-that-isn’t-really-a-scandal continues for Dave Eggers. I’ve gotta say, I find the alleged parallels between these two books pretty weak. Wouldn’t those be present in any book someone wrote about a Facebook-like company? I also find it weird that “evidence” for Eggers’ plagiarism seems, to some journalists, to include the fact that he wrote from the perspective of a Sudanese kid. All you writers out there who base fiction on people who’ve inspired you and who…are not you…better watch your backs?
Hemingway’s Macho Letter to Fitzgerald. (Really, it’s pretty adorable, if only one were unaware of how it all turned out for them…)
And here are excerpts from the young Scott’s teen-angst diary, on Flavorwire.
Fifth Wednesday literary journal is seeking a Managing Editor, preferably in the Chicago area. There doesn’t seem to be anything online about this, but if this is your dream gig, contact Vern Miller at the mag…
Dude, do you have $250 burning a hole in your pocket and a major crush on Joan Didion? This PEN event tomorrow night is for you.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve subjectively downed the Alice Munro Kool-Aid or not: her Nobel Prize win is a major event for the short story form and its devotees. A lot of giddy, joyful tears out there in the ethersphere over this. And if there is a literary writer out there today who elicits a stronger, almost spiritual devotion among readers, it’d be hard to say who that might be…
Flesh-eating knock-off heroin? Well, sure, who doesn’t want to pay for that?
Why unsuccessful writers give better advice than famous ones, says Salon.
Why no one is (make that was) talking about the fact that Chris Brown was raped.
I don’t think enough people have read this Rumpus piece, “What Men Talk About When They Talk About Mary Gaitskill.” An impassioned and smart analysis of Gaitskill’s work, it’s also a pretty merciless indictment of the ways men are (in?)capable of reading it properly. I thought this piece would really spark a heated debate, as most of the serious male readers I know are big Gaitskill fans. I was looking forward to reading the responses to this piece, but the comments board has been surprisingly quiet and tepid. What gives, people?
