“It may be time to understand that the writing culture of an earlier era was a matter of fashion, much like the elaborate clothing required of anyone who stepped outside. And just as fashions can be utilitarian—houses weren’t as well heated in the old days, making all those textiles more necessary most of the year—writing ability mattered more when it was the main way one had to communicate with the world beyond one’s self.”
Category: words
In Defense Of The Negative Book Review: Can Hatchet Jobs Build Strong Literary Culture?
“The language of marketing is that of ‘appreciation,’ and if literary critics adopt appreciation as their primary mode, they have not achieved critical distance from market interests. … The reviewer must be allowed to retain the option of proclaiming some books superior to others in the canon; if this right is denied her, then reviewing has become an extension of marketing, and she has lost credibility.”
Encore: Celebrating 25 Years Of The Only Lit Prize To Honor Second Novels
“In particular, as suggested by the phrase ‘the difficult second novel’, things can get tough after first publication. If your first book has gone like the clappers, you’ll probably be feeling pressure, both self-generated and from expectant publishers; at the same time, … your schedule may seem to conspire against you ever writing another word.”
What Is It About America’s Inability To Learn Other Languages?
“Less than 1 percent of American adults today are proficient in a foreign language that they studied in a U.S. classroom. That’s noteworthy considering that in 2008 almost all high schools in the country—93 percent—offered foreign languages, according to a national survey.”
Parents In Idaho, North Carolina Want ‘Of Mice And Men,’ ‘Kite Runner’ Removed From High Schools
“In Coeur d’Alene, four members of a committee dedicated to curriculum review have urged the city’s school district to ban Steinbeck’s famous novel from being taught in classrooms … In Asheville, one school has already suspended [Khaled Hosseini’s 2003 bestseller], a frequently challenged novel about an Afghan boy growing up in Kabul.”
Librarians Fight Back Against NSA’s Big Brother-Style Mass Surveillance
“The American Library Association has counted privacy among its ‘core values’ since 1939, but [Alison] Macrina thinks that now, in the age of dragnet data collection by intelligence agencies and corporations, librarians aren’t taking enough concrete steps to protect their patrons, in many cases because they don’t have the technical skills.” And she’s working to change that.
The Eight Styles Of Prom Book Covers
“Visa recently estimated that the average family will spend more than $900 on prom — and a third of that is just for something called the ‘promposal.’ The ways of young people may be past all comprehension, but the ways of book marketing are not.”
The Turbulent Emotional State Of Being A Writer
“Euphoria is probably the best word to describe how an author feels when the writing goes well. Most of the time, however, the writing is hard, sometimes impossible. The terrifying sense that the creative process is always out of your control — or perhaps that it actually isn’t, in which case the hard-to-impossible stretches are a reflection of your immense shortcomings as a writer — takes a psychological toll.”
To Combat Any Decline In Print Books, You Just Need Pop Stars And Video Games
“Sales of children’s books rose 11 per cent to £349 million, making 2014 the most successful year for the genre since 2007, when JK Rowling’s final Harry Potter book was released.”
The Artistic Power Of Those On The Margins
“Away from the fierce logic of power that creates the center, the margins remain conspicuously dispersed, unfocused, chaotic. Life takes other forms here; it has its own rhythms and priorities, and unfolds in ways both uncontrollable and difficult to predict.”