Posts by author
Jake Slovis
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Salinger’s “Inscrutable” Text
For The Millions, Christian Kriticos revisits J.D. Salinger’s story “Hapworth 16, 1924,” and tries to place the story within Salinger’s celebrated career. Although the story receives much criticism for its “strange” meandering style, Kriticos claims this structure “follows the contours of…
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Too Many Skirts and Dresses
There are a number of picture books with strong girl protagonists, however the majority of them are drawn in skirts and dresses. At the Guardian, Julia Eccleshare calls for more children’s books with “girls in trousers,” in order to campaign against this…
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Vernon Reid Digs James Baldwin
At Esquire, sci-fi author Jeff VanderMeer and Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid discuss genre fiction, and how one art form can inspire another. Reid says: Fiction has always evoked pictures and provoked ideas and sounds in my mind. James Baldwin, who…
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Do Governments Make Bad Editors?
When the Chinese government created a China-themed pavilion at this year’s BookExpo America, several writers protested the event. Writer Andrew Solomon argued that the Chinese government used that expo as a platform to present their “approved literature to the world.”…
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Writing for Sport
What do writing and sports have in common? For The Millions, Tracy O’Neill suggests that both writers and athletes are in the “business” of constructing “narratives,” and likens the experience of writing fiction to the competitiveness of sports: It’s easy to…
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Literary Cooties
A recent study by author Nicola Griffith reveals that books written about men were more likely to win major literary prizes over the last fifteen years than books written about women. During this timeframe, 12 Man Booker Prize winners and 10 National Book Award winners were…
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Zen and the Art of Shepherding
For The Millions, Caroline Crampton explores the prevalence of “sheep lit” (writing about shepherds and sheep) in 20th century British literature. According to Crampton, writing about sheep shows a relationship between the way shepherds “interact with their land,” and their personal histories.…
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The Era of the Very Long Novel
At Vulture, Boris Kachka looks into the recent trend of publishing “mega-books,” with the hopes of answering a seemingly straightforward question: “When did book get so freaking enormous?” In his analysis, Kachka touches upon works by Knausgaard, Tartt, and Catton, all authors of…
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The Power of the Common Tongue
For The Millions, Lauren Alwan provides “a brief history” and analysis of colloquial titles, including works from authors like Ernest Hemingway, Flannery O’Connor, Lorrie Moore, and Raymond Carver. In addition, Alwan offers her insights as to what makes colloquial titles so…
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Baxter’s Informal Decalogue
For Tin House, Susan Tacent interviews Charles Baxter. The two discuss topics ranging from how to write “funny,” to the process that went into writing Baxter’s most recent collection There’s Something I Want You to Do: Short stories can take so many…
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Topics Not Discussed Elsewhere
For The Millions, Sonya Chung sits down with James Hannaham to explore “questions and topics not discussed elsewhere” about his new novel Delicious Foods. In the interview, the two discuss the research that went into writing about drug addiction and farm labor, as well as…
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Breaking Silence
For the Guardian, Nicole Lee reports on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s closing lecture at the PEN World Voices festival, where the Nigerian author expressed concern for the “dangerous silencing” of an American culture that “fears causing offense.” In addition, Adichie encouraged a culture…