« older | Main Largehearted Boy Page | newer »
February 6, 2023
Shorties (An Interview with Isabel Waidner, An Interview with Belle & Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch, and more)
PEN America interviewed author Isabel Waidner.
Sterling Karat Gold deliberately blurs conventional boundaries between what counts as real and as imagined. For example, the Cataclysmic Foibles performances you mention don’t just provide entertainment or educational value; as you say, they’re actual sites where the ‘real’ narrative can develop and progress—or regress, as it were. Here in the UK, we have seen a sustained ideological attack on the arts and humanities by consecutive Conservative governments since 2010, so it’s almost as if these sectors or cultures were deemed to be dangerous for those in power… this perceived (and I’d wager actual) ability of art and performance to affect social change is played out in the novel.
Last Donut of the Night interviewed Belle & Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch.
To be a gentle soul was not, in the mid-90’s in the west of Scotland, a great look. [Laughs] But there’s plenty of gentle souls.
eBook on sale for $1.99 today:
Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman
eBooks on sale for $3.99 today:
Deep South by Paul Theroux
I Can Cook Vegan by Isa Chandra Moskowitz
In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien
The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien
Paste interviewed the Go-Between's Robert Forster.
Farah Abdessamad recommended books that will change how you feel about art at the Atlantic.
Cover Me shared five covers of Television's "See No Evil."
Debutiful recommended February's best debut books.
PopMatters remembered Tom Verlaine.
Marion Turner discussed her book The Wife of Bath: A Biography with Weekend Edition.
It might seem strange to write a biography of a made-up character. But Turner, who previously wrote a well-regarded biography of Chaucer, puts the Wife of Bath in the context of actual women who found ways to prosper in the aftermath of the Black Death, which upended social norms and created new pathways for women to work and hold authority.
Stream a new Peter Gabriel song.
Alice Wong talked to NPR Books about her book Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life.
Stream a new song by Crocodiles.
Can You Identify These Novels by Their First Sentences?
Stream a new song by The Album Leaf & Bat For Lashes.
Abhigna Mooraka talked teaching writing with Electric Literature.
The Chicago Review of Books interviewed author Marisa Crane.
Shondaland interviewed author Tracey Rose Peyton.
I came to some characters earlier than others, and then some characters came about based on the need to differentiate them from one another. I thought about the ways we typically contextualize a character set in contemporary novels — what do they do for work? What do they wear? And I realized very quickly that I wasn’t going to have access to those shorthands, given the time period. So, how would I distinguish characters that were interconnected? That we would meet as a group but also needed to have individual specificity. I needed to figure out ways to make them distinct, and what often makes you unique is your story and your experience.
Stream a new song by METTE.
Ars Technica explored the intersection of physics and literature in James Joyce's Ulysses.
The Quietus reconsidered Echo & The Bunnymen's Porcupine album as it turns 40.
Quan Barry wrote about writing across genres at Literary Hub.
I know there are some folks out there who think in terms of “branding,” of becoming known to the world as the writer who does X. But if that doesn’t sound like fun to you, then forget it. Instead, maybe try becoming the writer who’s unpredictable, who has fun wearing all kinds of hats. Don’t be afraid to make your hat collection your brand (though if you’re a one-hat writer, that’s cool too).
The Quietus shared an excerpt from Aug Stone's novel The Ballad Of Buttery Cake Ass.
Catapult interviewed author Matthew Salesses.
If you appreciate the work that goes into Largehearted Boy, please consider making a donation.
