The Guardian
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Women Read Women
Women read books written by women and men read books written by men, reports the Guardian. A study of Goodreads data suggests that people prefer reading books written by those who share their gender. The study also reveals that men…
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Language Wars
Most writers aspire to clarity in language. Politicians, of course, are the exception. Legislators are turning to language to obscure their intentions, claims Steven Poole over at the Guardian. Poole cites a trade deal between the EU and the United…
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The Best Standup Comedian You’ve Never Seen Perform
For the Guardian, Joshua Ferris pays tribute to his hero, Jim Shepard, who served as a visiting professor at the University of California, Irvine when he was an MFA student. “A lot of critics dislike the professionalisation of creative writing,”…
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A Fair Shake for Flawed Female Characters
Over at the Guardian, Emma Jane Unsworth considers the apparent likeability divide between anti-heroes—as it turns out, a heavily gendered archetype—and their female counterparts. Why does it seem that readers have a more negative reaction to women behaving badly and…
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Amazon’s Book of the Year
Celeste Ng’s novel, Everything I Never Told You, was recently named by Amazon as the book of the year. Amazon’s editorial team reviewed 480 fiction and non-fiction books before coming up with a top 10. Ng sat down with Hermione Hoby…
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Michael Chabon: Rock God
For the Guardian, John Dugdale examines the history of collaborative work between well-known musicians and authors. The impetus for the article stems from recent reports of Michael Chabon’s contributions to Mark Ronson’s forthcoming album.
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Ancient Pulp Fiction
A new English translation of ancient Arabian stories contains monsters, jinn, and some rather promiscuous princes. Elizabeth Lowry discusses the collection and its relationship to modern pulp fiction for the Guardian.
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Writing After 40
If the lists are to be believed, the only good new writers are under 40. It’s not just Buzzfeed, but also the New Yorker, Granta, and others who publish lists of great new—and young—authors. Joanna Walsh takes issue with this…
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Fairy Tales Uncut
The Guardian looks at a new English translation of the first edition of the Grimm brothers’ fairy tales and finds stories that are much less child-friendly than the ones we know today.
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Modiano the Next Roald Dahl?
For the Guardian, Alison Flood reports that a British publisher has purchased a translation of Patrick Modiano’s only children’s book. The news comes after the author’s Nobel Prize piqued the interest of English readers worldwide.
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Get A Little Less Precious
Mallory Ortberg, founder of The Toast and general source of hilarity and wit, talks to the Guardian about her just-released book Texts from Jane Eyre, creating a humorous website for intelligent women, and why you shouldn’t strive for perfection when…
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Hunting and Healing
For the Guardian, Robert McCrum visits acclaimed novelist Richard Ford on the Irish coast, where the author travels every year to hunt woodcock. The two discuss the trajectory of Ford’s career and his intimate relationship with the late Raymond Carver. I loved…