The Blether…
Some of the literary goings-on making news in recent days include the final words, we hope, in the spat between Martin Amis and Anna Ford, which you can trace, blow by blow, in the Guardian. I’ll say this for Mr. Amis, he sure knows how to get publicity when he has a new book coming out. Meanwhile, also in the Guardian, A. S. Byatt’s long (and some say windy) essay, There is Something About Alice, on the intellectual and linguistic delights of Alice in Wonderland together with her thoughts on other children’s classics, coincides with the release of Tim Burton’s new movie – yes, I will go and see it, and no, I hope it is nothing like the book.
The short list for the Pen Faulkner Awards was announced on February 23rd: Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead, The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver, Homicide Survivors Picnic and Other Stories by Lorainne M. Lopez, A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore and War Dances by Sherman Alexie. The winner will be announced March 23rd.
The Millions has a couple of interesting articles worth checking out. Judging Books by Their Covers compares the visual marketing styles employed on either side of the pond to try and tempt US and British audiences to taste the same book. Victoria Patterson’s short and entertaining essay, That Woman Who Writes, chronicles her attempts to find a (work) room of her own, (and I empathize; I’m posting this now in our local library, on the lam from real life and responsibilities…)