2021: Articles on authors and publishing

The strange life of O. Henry:

https://bookriot.com/who-was-o-henry

Nora Joyce wasn't just Jimmy's little wife, she was a shield and unstinting source of support, as this new book demonstrates:

https://lithub.com/on-writing-nora-joyce-into-biographical-fiction

Good piece on John Williams and de-mythologizing the American west:

https://www.altaonline.com/books/fiction/a34839129/john-freeman-butchering-the-m...

Rimbaud will continue to rest in place:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/14/rimbaud-remains-will-not-be-moved-...

Denis Johnson's work, profiled in LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS:

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v43/n03/alex-harvey/corporate-imposter

an article on Franz Fanon read several years ago that is memorable

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v39/n02/adam-shatz/where-life-is-seized

>5 CliffBurns: besides Jesus' Son my favorite is Train Dreams

Actually, I don't believe I have that one.

What did you think of TREE OF SMOKE?

I thought it was over-rated, nowhere near his best work. Overlong and plodding.

Absolutely adored JESUS' SON (brilliant film adaptation too).

I thought this was interesting (for the 'history of publishing' folks) "Why are books actually marked with a price on them? Music isn’t. Movies aren’t. Most retail items that I could think of that you would find at resellers aren’t in fact."

Everything kicks off with a dust jacket from the 1830's...

https://www.marketplace.org/2021/01/21/why-do-books-have-prices-printed-on-them/

>9 trav: In the UK, it's because of the Net Book Agreement. Book prices were high, but it meant best-selling authors funded mid-list authors, and publishers could give a writer time to grow their career. But then the big retailers got together and scrapped the NBA, and now we have mega-selling authors who dominate markets, almost no mid-list, and a continual rush for debuts because they at least don't have a sales history that prevent retailers ordering copies...

>8 CliffBurns: did not read TREE (probably because I treated veterans with PTSD and heard it from the horses mouth, so to speak).

I think you’d love Train Dreams. Also his last book of stories, Largesse...is quite good.

LARGESSE was lesser Johnson to me--but I've gone ahead and ordered a copy of TRAIN DREAMS from the library. My gratitude for calling it to my attention.

>12 CliffBurns: look forward to hearing what you think. To me it is a short novel that captures the American spirit and dilemma.

Two other books I recently read that portray these same themes were:

In the Distance by Hernan Diaz

And

the manifold destiny of Eddie Vegas by Rick Harsch.

Thanks for the tips. Always looking for good books, especially from authors "off the beaten track".

>10 iansales: the Net Book Agreement rabbit hole is a fascinating one. Over the past 10 years, the number of people asking "is it time to bring it back?" seems to be growing. Hard to argue with the results and data. Thank you for bringing it up here!

Sherlock Holmes is part of the public domain--but is that a good thing?

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/feb/04/i-think-ive-written-more-sherlock-...

>16 CliffBurns: I see everyone in the article refers to the original author throughout as 'Conan Doyle'. Not too many people realise that 'Conan' is a forename (there was apparently a Saint Conan)...

I wanted to name our first son "Sherlock".

Fortunately, my wife decided I was joking and, thus, our marriage was saved.

James Joyce's naughty bits:

https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2021/03/15/imagining-nora-barnacles-love-let...

Mark Fisher, gone but not forgotten:

https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/giving-up-the-ghost-on-the-legacy-of-mark-fi...

Why should you read?

https://lithub.com/why-should-you-read/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email...

Homes of dead authors:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/93ywaa/inside-our-endless-obsession-with-the-hom...

>22 CliffBurns: Interesting. I don't remember quite the same reaction when Ray Bradbury's house went on the market a few years back; and a lot of British writers are trying to get Tolkien's house Saved For The Nation, but the Nation seems fairly indifferent.

Some time ago, on one of my Austrian trips, I visited one of Beethoven's former lodgings (of which there are quite a few - he was not a model tenant). In particular, I visited the property in the spa of Baden, outside Vienna, where he wrote the Ninth Symphony. He occupied rooms above a shop; it's in a quiet street and it was a summer afternoon when I went. There's very little sign outside that there's anything really special about the building; you go up a back staircase and a volunteer comes along and opens up the museum in the afternoons (only). Beethoven's apartment is simply furnished with a few pieces contemporary to his age; and yes, I got a very real sense of what it might have been like to sit in that room, and write.

Later on the same trip, I went to Eisenstadt, where the Esterhazy family employed Haydn as their Court musician. There was a lot of hoo-ha about Haydn; we were shown a lot of interpretive displays and the Esterhazy theatre where Haydn would have played and conducted. But I was left with the distinct impression that the Esterhazys got their money's worth out of Papa Haydn then and continue to do so now. I know which composer's house I prefer.

In depth article on Philip Roth:

https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v43/n10/james-wolcott/sisyphus-at-the-selectric

Digitized Kafka--hundreds of letters, sketches, etc. now available on-line:

https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-57267874

What will become of Philip Roth's personal papers?

https://newrepublic.com/article/162475/philip-roth-blake-bailey-documents-biogra...

Will Self talks about reading his contemporaries:

https://lithub.com/on-the-pain-of-reading-contemporary-writing-when-you-are-a-co...

Any Donald Barthelme fans in the vicinity?

https://lithub.com/charles-mcgrath-on-the-avant-garde-literary-genius-of-donald-...

Good piece on Denton Welch--if you haven't read his work, I encourage you to seek it out:

https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/in-youth-is-suffering-denton-welch-and-the-l...

Ishmael Reed, still kicking ass:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/07/26/ishmael-reed-gets-the-last-laugh

Talkin' about Tom...Pynchon, that is:

https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2011/05/thomas-pynchon-tom-a-remarka...

Fernando Pessoa was a fascinating human being. A new biography sheds more light on this enigmatic literary figure:

https://lithub.com/the-heteronymous-identities-of-fernando-pessoa/?utm_source=Sa...

A short piece on Harlan Ellison:

https://www.thebulwark.com/a-man-and-his-stories/

Good, insightful piece on W.G. Sebald:

https://newrepublic.com/article/163070/lost-world-wg-sebald-speak-silence-review...

Philip Roth was a self-promoting dickhead? Surprise, surprise:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/aug/29/a-master-of-self-promotion-letters...

Book sales are booming:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/sep/21/richard-osmans-second-book-is-one-...

The rediscovery of John M. Ford:

https://slate.com/culture/2019/11/john-ford-science-fiction-fantasy-books.html

Interesting take on "Pinocchio":

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/oct/01/incest-story-by-pinocchio-author-p...

Our newest Nobel Prize winner:

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-58828947

Iconic book covers:

https://lithub.com/the-25-most-iconic-book-covers-in-history?utm_source=Sailthru...

Congratulations to our newest Booker winner, Damon Galgut:

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-59149960

>43 CliffBurns: I echo your congratulations Cliff. I heard Galgut speak on the BBC's 'Open Book' programme and was very impressed by his wry humour and by the way he constantly re-invents himself. As he has said in several interviews it was his experience in writing film scripts that informed a new approach in his novel writing. This year's Booker shortlist was a strong one which makes this an even more satisfying result for this writer who ihas been shortlisted before for this prize.

Albert Camus: still sexy, still relevant:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/04/09/facing-history?utm_brand=tny&u...

An interview with Neal Stephenson:

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/14/neal-stephenson-on-termination-shock-geoengineer...

Sharing a beer with Borges. Love this:

https://lithub.com/the-time-i-drank-with-borges-in-a-scottish-pub

A big "Nope" to this one:

https://boingboing.net/2021/12/08/george-orwells-1984-to-be-rewritten-from-a-fem...

>48 CliffBurns: It's an interesting exercise - we never did find out what happened to Julia or have any idea what she saw in Winston in the first place - but that's hardly describable as a "rewrite". An authorised spin-off, at best. Calling it a "rewrite" is a bit of culture war mischief-making.

"1984" is a valuable name brand, methinks. High recognition value.

And let's not forget, the Orwell estate will lose copyright over the novels, essays and stories in the next few years. They're gonna make hay while the sun shines.

I think it's sickening, frankly.

Thanks for that clarification. Orwell isn't the first and won't be the last author to have his work sharecropped by lesser talents.

Just have to grin and bear it.

A few of these have been in my TBR pile for a while:

The 50 Best Books of Literary Journalism of the 21st Century
https://www.gq.com/story/50-best-literary-journalism-books?utm_source=twitter&am...