Once Graham Greene reviewed the novel (in its original printing from Paris) in the The Sunday Times in 1955, George Weidenfeld knew he wanted to publish it in the UK. Then came a campaign for the passage of an updated Obscenity Law, without which there would be no hope. - Literary Hub
Blurbs have always been controversial—too clichéd, too subject to cronyism—but lately, as review space shrinks and the noise level of the marketplace increases, the pursuit of ever more fawning praise from luminaries has become absurd. - The Atlantic
"The short-lived ban ... was part of school officials' attempts to comply with a new state law that requires books available to Iowa students to be 'age-appropriate” and free of 'descriptions or visual depictions of a sex act'" and held teachers personally liable for violations. - MSN (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Sure, the implementation of A.I. technology will undoubtedly alter how Wikipedia is used and transform the user experience. At the same time, the features and bugs of large language models, or LLMs, like ChatGPT intersect with human interests in ways that support Wikipedia rather than threaten it. - Slate
In Memoriam, "inspired by archive clippings from a student newspaper, chronicles the love story between two first world war soldiers," and inspired the Waterstone judges in turn. - The Guardian (UK)
"Most would define forgiveness as a moral good, a virtuous act. ... But what about the fact that forgiveness cannot restore what’s been lost to grievous harm? What of the transgressed person’s grief or rage?" - The New York Times
You might just be Sal McCloskey of Blueberries for Sal - and reading to a new generation from your dad's books is a celebration of Maine and memories. - The New York Times
She once said she had to flee London in order not to write a historical novel - but now she's back, and thanks to pandemic walks, she's written just that. - The Guardian (UK)
It's got its appeal. Amit Chaudhuri: "The publication of a book is a strange occasion for the author – a mix of disengagement and nervous anticipation. What happens in the long aftermath is another matter. " - LitHub
Ask Sylvia Plath - or French writer Barbara Molinard, who ripped her finished stories into shreds and fed them to the fire before rewriting them from scratch. - The Atlantic
“If you are going to hail a writer from 400 years ago as the greatest writer of all time, then you need to look at him in relation to the contemporary moment. Because the moment you don’t do that, he can be bracketed from it all and just kept on his pedestal.” - Washington Post
"Proust's humor often has to do with misreadings or over-interpretations, and his question is usually not what happens but to whom and when." Scholar Michael Wood compares the jokes to the meta-humor in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, such as the differences in the laws of physics for humans and for toons. - Literary Hub
If we want to push the art of writing out of a computer’s reach, the questions posed in writing workshops should go past “How could this piece work better?” to “How could this piece be more honest? More emotionally effective? More resonant?” - The Atlantic
Just about everyone has been made to feel like shit because someone with “good taste” declared that something they love is bad. We’ve been made to feel inferior because someone with authority is shocked we haven’t read this book, listened to this band, watched that movie. - LitHub
