Flavorwire

  • NYPL Hosts Panel on Amazon

    The continuing battle between Amazon and Hachette was the focus of a panel discussion hosted by the New York Public Library last week featuring novelist James Patterson, publisher Morgan Entrekin, literary agent Tina Bennett, and several political theorists. Jason Diamond has…

  • A Serious Man

    In a recently tweeted series of amateur photos, artist and writer Szilvia Molnar satirizes the figure of the cool male writer so often conveyed in author portraits by the presence of a cigarette. Having noticed a discrepancy between the portrayal of…

  • Critics vs. Readers

    Critics don’t seem to like Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, but that hasn’t stopped readers from buying more than a million copies of the novel. Vanity Fair poses the question: but is it art? The New Republic suggests this kind of criticism…

  • The Love-Hate of Nathaniel P.

    A “total Nathaniel P.” describes a certain kind of male literary intellectual, the opposite of the finance crowd who coined the phrase an insult. But among people who have actually read Adelle Waldman’s novel, The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.,…

  • Marveling At Roxane Gay

    The literary community loves Rumpus Essays Editor Roxanne Gay. She’s prolific, supportive, and a great writer. Jason Diamond, writing over at Flavorwire, explains further: While I can’t really comment on whether she’s from Krypton or offer any definitive knowledge of…

  • Still Writing Like a Motherfucker

    An article published in Flavorwire hails Cheryl Strayed (Rumpus’ very own Sugar) as a publishing hero. In Jason Diamond’s words, “Strayed is the rare type of writer who is both critically and commercially embraced, but also keeps her feet firmly planted in the literary world.” But how did this…

  • The Year of Lynne Tillman

    Writing for Flavorwire, critic Jason Diamond has declared 2014 the year of Lynne Tillman: Her fiction is the work of an author who takes meticulous care of every single word, like a painter making sure every brush stroke has meaning.

  • The Midwest is the Future of American Literature

    Flavorwire’s Jason Diamond insists that writers can eschew New York City in favor of greener pastures, offering a comprehensive defense of Franzen country: A closer look at the literary map of the 50 states reveals that even if the publishing industry writ large…

  • A Year of Women Writers

    Although plenty of critics and academics have done a wonderful job reinterpreting what it means to be “the canon,” there are still many readers in the US who, consciously or subconsciously, believe that men have contributed most of what we…

  • Writing on Writing

    Let’s face it, writers love to write about writing. Whether it’s for the beginning writer or the seasoned vet looking for a renewed sense of inspiration, check out the ten greatest essays on writing over at Flavorwire.

  • Rumpus Writers Help Define Modern Literature

    Flavorwire’s Jason Diamond has compiled a list of fifty books that defined the past five years of literature. From the universally acclaimed (Wolf Hall) to the controversial (what purpose did i serve in your life), from the literary heavyweights (Tenth of…

  • Small Presses, Big Impact

    The silver lining of the publishing industry’s turmoil is that independent small presses are increasingly able to bring readers unique and fascinating books. Flavorwire’s Jason Diamond has collected twenty-five of the presses doing the risky but essential work bigger publishers…