Publishing Too Open?
Frustrated writers like to rail against the injustices of the publishing industry. I’ve been known to vent a little here and there myself, although I stop far short of calling publishers a mafia. But there are many out there who, through much gnashing of teeth and beating of breast, lament that their novel is being…
continue readingMiss Snark: Literary Whippings
An anonymous literary agent calling herself Miss Snark runs a blog where she dispenses blunt, pointed comments and criticisms that are engaging and entertaining. You can submit work to her and she’ll run it through the Crapometer and post her thoughts. She also responds to comments. One viewer asks “I see a lot of agent…
continue readingBoD: Bloodbrothers
Richard Price may now be better known for his film work or his urban crime dramas. But his early novels are excellent examinations of working-class families and the pressures they face. Probably my favorite early Price novel is Blood Brothers. Published in 1976, this book follows the difficult decisions facing eighteen-year-old Stony De Coco. His…
continue readingLolita at 50
Via MaudNewton, I learned of a brief and entertaining article examining Lolita at 50. The article explains the genesis of Nabokov’s idea, how his wife just managed to convince the author from burning the manuscript, and how many readers have mistaken certain elements over the years. Particularly interesting is the treatment of Lolita‘s foreward. In…
continue readingMcInerney Reviews Kunkel
Jay McInerney provides an interesting review of Indecision by Benjamin Kunkel in Sunday’s New York Times. In a quick wrap-up, McInerney describes the recent history of coming-of-age novels by writing, “In its modern form the American bildungsroman (the novel of formation) descends from The Catcher in the Rye‘ (1951). Reinvigorated by feminism in the 70’s,…
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