“Brushing aside mounting criticism, a Tokyo publisher has defended its decision to release a controversial autobiography penned by a former teenage serial killer, billing it as helpful to elucidate – and even deter – heinous juvenile crimes in society. Since the release of the autobiography last week, Ota Publishing Co. has faced a ‘massive’ backlash from the public, the company admitted in a statement.”

“Regency historicals are filled with heroes disabled both physically and psychologically by the horrors of that battle, of heroines who lost brothers, husbands, fathers, and cousins, coping with a very different landscape than the one they were taught to navigate in.”

“In theory, the Librarian could do whatever he or she wants,” in terms of granting exemptions, says Jonathan Band, a lawyer in Washington, D.C. who specializes in technology and intellectual property law. “They could be more aggressive and grant more exemptions and broader exemptions.”

“Wherever you are in the world, visiting a bookshop is always a treat – but with their numbers dwindling, independent stores that offer something unique are increasingly becoming a destination in themselves.”

“What if we dislike or despise or hate poems because they are – every single one of them – failures? The poet and critic Allen Grossman tells a story (there are many versions of the story) that goes like this: you’re moved to write a poem because of some transcendent impulse to get beyond the human, the historical, the finite. But as soon as you move from that impulse to the actual poem, the song of the infinite is compromised by the finitude of its terms. So the poem is always a record of failure.”