Posts by author
Roxie Pell
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To Make Good Art from Bad Things
Gay Talese’s new book The Voyeur’s Motel has garnered some well-earned bad press after its source was discredited. But was it any good? For The New Republic, Alexandra Molotkow argues that to be worth reading, Talese would have had to offer…
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Fantastic Beasts and Where to @ Them
Trolls have come a long way since their days guarding bridges. Over at Electric Literature, Andrew Ervin compares today’s Internet vermin to their bestial forbears.
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Carving the Uncanny Valley
Any Luddite with half a brain has already begun stockpiling nonperishables for the inevitable moment the robots rise up against us. Over at the Ploughshares blog, Joelle Renstrom recounts how writers were awakened to the threat of artificial intelligence: A…
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“The Way We Thought We Would Be Interested”
For the New Yorker, James Wood praises Joy Williams’s oblique precision: In Williams’s world, we are all wandering interlopers—adrift, trapped, groundless—looking for visitors’ privileges.
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An Explanation, Not a Justification
At Lit Hub, Joyce Chen explains The Seventh Wave’s reason for being (not that she needs to): We were not trying to prove ourselves “right” or defy any odds to become a household name; we simply wanted to exist.
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Too Many Books
If you’re only holding onto that copy of Infinite Jest to prove that you finished it, it might be time to let go. At The Awl, Nell Beram offers tips for spring-cleaning your book collection: “But what if I like those…
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It’s Never Just a Game
Adelle Waldman reviews Jay McInerney’s latest novel for the New Yorker: There’s no dodging the paradox at the heart of his career. Although his best books have never been merely lightweight eighties period pieces, the books set in that decade,…
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Is This It?
When a writer has said all that he or she has to say, or as much as possible before mortality intercedes, the body of work remains incomplete no matter the size of the output. The taunt persists: That’s it? At…
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What Do You Call It?
Book titles are an essential component of the texts they gesture at. They’re also advertising. At Catapult, Hannah Gersen recounts the naming process for her novel Home Field: A short story title can be fanciful or obscure or may even contribute something…
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Daddy Wasn’t There
Anyone who made it through high school English can probably recall reading a story or two about young protagonists finding themselves in the absence of parental guidance. From whence does this orphan trope come? And why? Is this what all…
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Captain of My Soul
For the New Yorker, Rachel Aviv profiles philosopher Martha Nussbaum: Like Narcissus, she says, philosophy falls in love with its own image and drowns.
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Tell Me about Yourself
Do you love this shit? Are you high right now? Do you ever get nervous? Quizzes are everywhere these days, from meandering author interviews to hard-hitting investigations to exactly which Disney princess corresponds to your introverted spirit animal. Read about the…