[{"id":276972,"date":"2026-09-14T06:30:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T10:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/?p=276972"},"modified":"2026-09-11T15:32:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T19:32:20","slug":"lit-hub-daily-september-14-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/lit-hub-daily-september-14-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Lit Hub Daily: September 14, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"caption\"> TODAY: In 1321, Dante Alighieri dies. <\/span>\n<ul>\n<li>Does your town need a bookstore? <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/how-opening-a-bookstore-inspired-my-new-novel-and-made-me-think-about-my-community\/\">Maybe you should start one<\/a>. | Lit Hub <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/category\/newsandculture\/bookstores-and-libraries\/\">Bookstores<\/a><\/li>\n<li>John J. Lennon Talks to Harriet Clark, Author of <em>The Hill<\/em>, about <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/a-question-of-innocence-on-writing-about-real-and-imagined-lives-in-and-outside-of-prison\/\">writing real and imagined lives in and outside of prison<\/a>. | Lit Hub <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/category\/craftandcriticism\/in-conversation\/\">In Conversation<\/a><\/li>\n<li>&#8220;If this is all going on, how do we survive? What kind of stories do we tell ourselves to go through this?&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/rabih-alameddine-on-writing-humor-in-times-of-tumult-and-tragedy\/\">Rabih Alameddine on writing humor in tragic times<\/a>. | Lit Hub <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/category\/craftandcriticism\/craft-and-advice\/\">Craft<\/a><\/li>\n<li>This week in literary history, <a href=\"http:\/\/lithub.com\/this-week-in-literary-history-john-keats-writes-to-autumn\">John Keats writes \u201cTo Autumn.\u201d<\/a> | Lit Hub <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/category\/newsandculture\/history\/\">History<\/a><\/li>\n<li>In case you have some space on your TBR, these are <a href=\"https:\/\/crimereads.com\/the-most-anticipated-mysteries-thrillers-and-crime-novels-of-fall-2026\/\">the most anticipated mysteries, thrillers, and crime novels coming this fall.<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/crimereads.com\/\">CrimeReads<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Kevin Dettmar explores <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/behind-one-the-greatest-post-punk-songs-ever-recorded\/\">the tragic history behind one of post-punk&#8217;s most iconic tracks<\/a>: &#8220;Love Will Tear Us Apart.&#8221; | Lit Hub <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/category\/newsandculture\/music\/\">Music<\/a><\/li>\n<li>How raising a multilingual child taught Bo Wang <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/how-raising-a-multilingual-tot-helped-me-write-a-multicultural-novel\/\">to seamlessly incorporate English and Mandarin<\/a> into her fiction. | Lit Hub <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/category\/craftandcriticism\/craft-and-advice\/\">Craft<\/a><\/li>\n<li>What should you watch next? Try <a href=\"http:\/\/lithub.com\/36-literary-movies-and-tv-shows-to-watch-this-fall\">all the literary film and TV coming to streaming<\/a> this season. | Lit Hub <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/category\/newsandculture\/film-and-tv\/\">Film<\/a><\/li>\n<li>&#8220;I am descended from Vikings.&#8221; Read from <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/children-of-the-wolf\/\">Abby Geni&#8217;s new novel, <em>Children of the Wolf<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em> | Lit Hub <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/category\/fictionandpoetry\/from-the-novel\/\">Fiction<\/a><\/li>\n<li>\u201cWe can\u2019t help but love our own country, because in refusing it affection, in hating it, we can\u2019t help but hate ourselves.\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/hedgehogreview.com\/web-features\/thr\/posts\/twains-patriotism\"> Ivan Kenneally on Mark Twain\u2019s patriotism<\/a>. | The Hedgehog Review<\/li>\n<li>Sophie Gilbert explores <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/magazine\/2026\/10\/writers-way-hollywood-jackie-collins-travel\/688354\/\">the world Jackie Collins imagined<\/a>. | The Atlantic<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2026\/09\/11\/richard-wagners-opera-festival-in-the-age-of-ai\/\">Krithika Varagur goes to Bayreuth<\/a>, the century and a half old opera festival created by and featuring the works of Richard Wagner: \u201cSomething had certainly happened to me. Just a week prior, I had been unsure if I even liked Wagner.\u201d | The Paris Review<\/li>\n<li>Clare Carlisle examines why the literature of spirituality <a href=\"https:\/\/lareviewofbooks.org\/article\/transcendence-for-beginners-biography-philosophy-spinoza-clare-carlisle\/\">\u201cmay occasionally allow us to transcend.\u201d<\/a> | Los Angeles Review of Books<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.publicbooks.org\/manufacturing-goodness-what-administrators-really-do-and-why\/\">What does an administrator in higher education<\/a> actually do? | Public Books<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Does your town need a bookstore? Maybe you should start one. | Lit Hub Bookstores John J. Lennon Talks to Harriet Clark, Author of The Hill, about writing real and imagined lives in and outside of prison. | Lit Hub<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":276988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[45236],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-276972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lit-hub-daily"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5rKFr-1a3i","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/dantedeath.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276972\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":275688,"date":"2026-09-14T05:55:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T09:55:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/?p=275688"},"modified":"2026-09-07T21:24:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T01:24:12","slug":"children-of-the-wolf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/children-of-the-wolf\/","title":{"rendered":"Children of the Wolf"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I am descended from Vikings. My paternal lineage runs all the way back to Erik the Red, the first European to stumble upon the shores of North America. Even for a Viking, he was brutal and hotheaded. His clan exiled him from Norwegian soil for murdering too many of his kinsmen, so he gathered up a raiding party, sailed across the Atlantic, landed in a frozen wasteland, named it Greenland for some reason, and made war on the people he found there.<\/p>\n<p>He was born Erik Thorvaldsson. The title \u201cRed\u201d came from his flame-colored hair, explosive temper, and penchant for bloodshed. You can draw a straight line down the family tree from him to Ulf Thorvaldsson, my father.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps all children see their parents as larger than life, but Pappa really was. Standing seven feet tall, he had a chest like a boulder and wore his hair and beard long, usually in intricate braids. He looked like a creature from the Old World, a hero or villain from the tales of the Vikings. He looked like what he was.<\/p>\n<p>We lived on the outskirts of a small Iowa town, Pappa, Finn, and me. It was the end of the twentieth century, though I didn\u2019t know it then. My brother and I grew up placeless and timeless, cut off from the outside world. Our neighbors were prairie and pines. Our days consisted of archery and epic poetry. No school. No other children. No extended family. No authority but Pappa. Modern civilization was a strange fantasy that existed in books, on the other side of the TV screen, and, theoretically, beyond our fences. In that faraway realm, people spoke the wrong language, followed the wrong calendar, and prayed to the wrong gods. Finn and I lived almost entirely off the grid in a reality our father built for us. At the time, it seemed like the only reality.<\/p>\n<p>Pappa had grown up in Uppsala, and he only ever spoke Swedish with Finn and me. He did know some English, enough to get by at the grocery store or the pharmacy, but he found it a lesser language. Nasal and chirpy. He did, however, permit Finn and me to speak English with each other and study it on our own. We were technically Americans, after all. According to the Iowa State Board of Education, my brother and I were being homeschooled, but Pappa scoffed at book learning. He brought us up in the way of our ancestors, whose children did not waste time solving equations or parsing sentences. They learned what mattered by watching their elders: how to fight, how to live, and how to die. There were no toys in our house; Pappa could not see the point of stuffed animals or building blocks. He taught us to handle knives, chop wood, hunt, cook, and endure pain.<\/p>\n<p>Viking men were warriors, and Finn\u2019s education proceeded accordingly. He studied the wall of mounted weapons in Pappa\u2019s bedroom\u2014swords and knives of every shape and size, all kept razor-sharp and ready for battle. Our father had no art, no photographs, only a lovingly arranged armory. In the Viking tradition, each weapon was given its own name: Wolf\u2019s Tooth, Serpent of Blood, Torch of Blood. Finn learned the use and properties of them all. He sharpened the blades with a whetstone and leather strop. He and Pappa sparred with battle-axes and swords\u2014wooden ones for now. Finn would graduate to real weapons when Pappa decided he was ready.<\/p>\n<p>My lessons were different. Pappa was softer with me\u2014a girl child and the baby of the family. In an ideal world, my mother would have been the one to guide me, but she was dead. The care and upkeep of the house were the purview of Viking women, which was not an inferior calling, Pappa always said. Men fought and pillaged, and women maintained the home, and both things were honorable and worthy. My education consisted of carpentry, gardening, baking, fixing the plumbing, and stitching up wounds in fabric and flesh.<\/p>\n<p>Pappa did give me one blade, a slender six-inch knife named Vargbett: Wolf\u2019s Bite. He showed me how to wield it without endangering my own fingers and, afterward, how to sheathe it safely. He advised me to keep it on my person during the rare times we left our land. Just in case.<\/p>\n<p>Every night, my father would bound up the stairs with a book in hand\u2014sometimes the <em>Eddas <\/em>(the stories of the gods) and sometimes the sagas (the tales of Viking warriors). Usually the former. My brother and I shared a room, and Pappa would fold his enormous body between our beds and read aloud for hours. In his booming baritone, he brought every part to life: frost giants and dwarfs, Valkyries and soothsayers.<\/p>\n<p>I remember it all so vividly. Twenty years have passed since that time, but sometimes the wild crucible of my youth seems more real to me than this adult life. I remember the smell of pickled herring and lingonberry jam. I remember splinting my brother\u2019s broken wrist under my father\u2019s watchful eye. (No doctors\u2014not ever.) I remember the beehives in the field, nine of them, perfuming the air with the tang of honey. Our house was surrounded by several hundred acres of prairie and forest, which felt like an infinite universe to me as a girl. Finn and I named the trees, swam in the pond, and spun stories about the rocky hill where trolls surely lived. We were a Viking clan of three.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center;\">__________________________________<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>From <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9798217299539\">Children of the Wolf<\/a><em>. Used with permission of the publisher, Ballantine Books. Copyright \u00a9 2026 by Abby Geni.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I am descended from Vikings. My paternal lineage runs all the way back to Erik the Red, the first European to stumble upon the shores of North America. Even for a Viking, he was brutal and hotheaded. His clan exiled<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":275689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[25508,3,43074,43076,26764],"tags":[8024,111740],"class_list":["post-275688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-fiction","category-excerpts","category-fictionandpoetry","category-from-the-novel","category-novels","tag-abby-geni","tag-children-of-the-wolf","story-type-daily-fiction"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5rKFr-19IA","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9798217299539.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/63"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":276615,"date":"2026-09-14T05:10:56","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T09:10:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/?p=276615"},"modified":"2026-09-07T21:16:05","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T01:16:05","slug":"behind-one-the-greatest-post-punk-songs-ever-recorded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/behind-one-the-greatest-post-punk-songs-ever-recorded\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind One the Greatest Post-Punk Songs Ever Recorded"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Ian Curtis whose torch singing floats above the high bass and glistening synths of \u201cLove Will Tear Us Apart\u201d is hardly recognizable as the guy who sang \u201cShe\u2019s Lost Control\u201d or \u201cDead Souls.\u201d It makes sense that the song was a non-album single since it strikes out in such a different direction from the music the band had released on its first album, <i>Unknown Pleasures<\/i>, or that would characterize their next and last, <i>Closer<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>Two decades after its release <i>NME <\/i>named it the greatest single of all time\u2014a claim that\u2019s somehow both preposterous and plausible. It\u2019s also some of the last music that Joy Division ever made: by the time the single came out, Curtis was dead by his own hand and the remaining members, who had vowed to break up the band if any of the founders left, would shortly form a new one\u2014New Order.<\/p>\n<p>New Order was a terrific band\u2014or are (as of this writing in 2025, they\u2019re touring again). But Joy Division was simply transcendent. The difference is Ian Curtis. And at the time he was writing \u201cLove Will Tear Us Apart,\u201d his life was collapsing in on him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"pullquote\">And at the time he was writing \u201cLove Will Tear Us Apart,\u201d his life was collapsing in on him.<\/p>\n<p>Punk and post-punk had an almost reflexive distrust of the pop love song. Joy Division\u2019s first chart hit, however, wasn\u2019t born out of belligerence, but heartbreak. Yes, the song\u2019s title is a bit of a piss take: squeaky-clean husband-and-wife team the Captain and Tennille had a #1 hit in 1975 with \u201cLove Will Keep Us Together,\u201d and while that song, or at least the optimism it channeled, did keep its performers together for nearly four decades, Curtis seems to have had little time for its saccharine \u201cjust say no\u201d prescription for the seven-year itch.<\/p>\n<p>Not that Curtis was philosophically opposed to the nuclear family: he married at age nineteen, and he and his wife, Deborah, had a child while the band was in the studio putting the finishing touches on <i>Unknown Pleasures<\/i>. But life on the road was hard on him, and he became emotionally involved with the Belgian journalist Annik Honor\u00e9. (Honor\u00e9 always insisted that the relationship was platonic.) And that new love at least played a part in tearing Mr. and Mrs. Curtis apart.<\/p>\n<p>The touring life was difficult for other reasons, as well. One of the band\u2019s best-known songs, \u201cShe\u2019s Lost Control,\u201d is based on Curtis\u2019s experience working with an epileptic girl in his civil service job as a caregiver. About the time he wrote the song he discovered that he, too, suffered from the condition, and his seizures became progressively more frequent and more severe; his flailing stage dance started to seem more than just abstract, and grand mal seizures sometimes brought Joy Division shows to a premature close.<\/p>\n<p>Curtis probably also suffered from bipolar disorder, which was only compounded by the rigors of touring on a shoestring budget. By the time he wrote \u201cLove Will Tear Us Apart,\u201d all these forces\u2014depression, epilepsy, isolation, and romantic strain\u2014were pressing in on him with intolerable urgency; Deborah had filed for divorce, though Curtis pleaded with her to reconsider. On May 18, 1980, on the eve of Joy Division\u2019s first US tour, Curtis hanged himself; he was twenty-three.<\/p>\n<p class=\"pullquote\">On May 18, 1980, on the eve of Joy Division\u2019s first US tour, Curtis hanged himself; he was twenty-three.<\/p>\n<p>Like so many British bands, Joy Division formed after seeing the Sex Pistols in the summer of 1976. If they originally set out to be punks, though, it didn\u2019t last long. Peter Hook developed a distinctive style of playing his bass, wonderfully melodic and way up on the neck so that the pitch and timbre are close to that of a six-string guitar. Indeed, in the opening bars of \u201cLove Will Tear Us Apart\u201d Hook plays an homage to Pete Townshend\u2019s opening of \u201cPinball Wizard\u201d from the Who\u2019s 1969 rock opera <i>Tommy<\/i>: bass player as guitar hero.<\/p>\n<p>Another aspect of their music distinguishing Joy Division from the punk bands that initially inspired them was the motive force behind their music. Postwar Manchester was a pretty bleak landscape for young men trying to find their way; but it influenced them differently than London had, say, the Sex Pistols. Tony Wilson, the TV music host who \u201cdiscovered\u201d the band and then brought out their LPs on his new label,<\/p>\n<p>Factory Records, explains their journey from punk to post-punk brilliantly: \u201cPunk enabled you to say, \u2018fuck you.\u2019 But somehow it couldn\u2019t go any further; it was a single, venomous, one-syllable\/two-syllable phrase of anger. Which was necessary to reignite rock \u2019n\u2019 roll. But sooner or later, someone was going to want to say more than \u2018fuck you.\u2019 Someone was going to want to say, \u2018I\u2019m fucked.\u2019 And it was Joy Division who were the first band to do that, to use the energy and simplicity of punk to express more complex emotions.\u201d \u201cFuck you\u201d =&gt; \u201cI\u2019m fucked\u201d (or \u201cWe\u2019re fucked\u201d): it\u2019s the affective arc of punk to post-punk in four words.<\/p>\n<p class=\"pullquote\">\u201cLove Will Tear Us Apart\u201d is a heartbreaking document of the death of a relationship that feels for all the world like the death of the self: a death that\u2019s witnessed and coolly dissected from outside, but from which one can hardly break free.<\/p>\n<p>Curtis\u2019s vocals on the song sound different from the rest of the Joy Division catalog in two respects. The first is their drone-like quality; at moments in the song his vocal cords seem to be vibrating sympathetically to Hook\u2019s bass and Bernard Sumner\u2019s synth. Because he had to put aside his guitar for the ARP Omni when performing the song live, Sumner taught Curtis to play just one guitar chord, D major, throughout. It\u2019s one secret of the song\u2019s surprisingly dynamic energy: the drone of Curtis\u2019s voice pitched against the melodic riffs coming from Sumner and Hook.<\/p>\n<p>The other vocal guise that Curtis adopted on \u201cLove Will Tear Us Apart\u201d was suggested by the session\u2019s engineer, Martin Hannett, who sent Curtis away one day with a Frank Sinatra album and told him to try to sing the song as a crooner might. We mostly hear it in the long, woozy <i>loooove <\/i>that starts each instance of the chorus, a line reading that wouldn\u2019t be out of place in Sid Vicious\u2019s preposterous cover of Sinatra\u2019s \u201cMy Way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLove Will Tear Us Apart\u201d is a heartbreaking document of the death of a relationship that feels for all the world like the death of the self: a death that\u2019s witnessed and coolly dissected from outside, but from which one can hardly break free. The (stereo-)typical language to describe such relationship strain is \u201cdrifting apart\u201d or \u201cgrowing apart,\u201d and the song flirts with these half-truths: \u201cwe\u2019re changing our ways \/ Taking different roads.\u201d But the mood here isn\u2019t disinterest, but \u201cdesperation\u201d that \u201ctakes hold\u201d: \u201cIs it something so good \/ Just can\u2019t function no more?\u201d The truth is both starker and more hopeless: \u201cLove, love will tear us apart.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ah: but that\u2019s not the line. That\u2019s the title; Deborah had the phrase \u201cLove Will Tear Us Apart\u201d inscribed on Ian\u2019s tombstone, but a pedant might call that a misquotation. Because the line, repeated eight times in the song, ends with \u201cagain.\u201d And that \u201cagain\u201d wobbles a bit: Does it signify that we\u2019ll each be alone again, as we were before love brought us together? Or does it suggest an even darker possibility: that love is now and forever tearing people apart? Even at twenty-three years old,<\/p>\n<p>Curtis was capable of more mature insight into the ethical complexities of romantic relationships than the song\u2019s title suggests. \u201cLove Will Tear Us Apart\u201d is the proof.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s this that Bernard Sumner has in mind when he calls \u201cLove Will Tear Us Apart\u201d \u201cone of the most beautiful love songs ever written.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s not a love song for the sake of it,\u201d he writes in his memoir, \u201cit\u2019s no vacuous paean to pretend heartbreak or anything like that. It\u2019s genuine, it\u2019s real, and it swings back and forth between full-blown power and reflective introspection.\u201d That\u2019s no mean feat for a song that Hook says was written in three hours. But then the lyrics had surely been writing themselves on Curtis\u2019s heart for far longer.<\/p>\n<p>In a 2014 interview, Hook said that the song \u201chas everything\u201d: \u201cA great bass line, wonderful synths, a great showcase of Steve [Morris]\u2019s drumming, the simple yet effective guitar that became one of our trademarks.\u201d What\u2019s missing from this description? Curtis\u2019s lyrics, of course, and the instrument with which he put them across. \u201cIt\u2019s quite strange really,\u201d Hook said, \u201cbecause the lyrics are very dark but I find the song to be very uplifting\u2014no other Joy Division song works like that. People go nuts for that song when we play it live, but it really is quite dark.\u201d It\u2019s the darkness of a lonely voice crying out, \u201cI\u2019m fucked\u201d\u2014or maybe, even more powerfully, \u201cwe\u2019re fucked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center;\">__________________________________<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"276617\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/behind-one-the-greatest-post-punk-songs-ever-recorded\/punkcover\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/PunkCover.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"648,979\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"PunkCover\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/PunkCover.jpg\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-276617 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/PunkCover-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/PunkCover-199x300.jpg 199w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/PunkCover-40x60.jpg 40w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/PunkCover-33x50.jpg 33w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/PunkCover.jpg 648w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Excerpt from the book <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/397\/9780063396753\">Punk in 50 Pieces<\/a><em> by Kevin Dettmar. Copyright \u00a9 2026 by Kevin Dettmar. Used with permission of Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins. All rights<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Ian Curtis whose torch singing floats above the high bass and glistening synths of \u201cLove Will Tear Us Apart\u201d is hardly recognizable as the guy who sang \u201cShe\u2019s Lost Control\u201d or \u201cDead Souls.\u201d It makes sense that the song<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31937,"featured_media":276619,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[43102,6,43094,43092],"tags":[6564,576,43758,43754,112158,112159,34,112157],"class_list":["post-276615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biography","category-features","category-music","category-newsandculture","tag-harper","tag-history","tag-ian-curtis","tag-joy-division","tag-kevin-dettmar","tag-love-will-tear-us-apart","tag-music","tag-punk-in-50-pieces"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5rKFr-19Xx","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ian-curtis.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31937"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":276425,"date":"2026-09-14T05:10:36","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T09:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/?p=276425"},"modified":"2026-09-16T16:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T20:38:08","slug":"36-literary-movies-and-tv-shows-to-watch-this-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/36-literary-movies-and-tv-shows-to-watch-this-fall\/","title":{"rendered":"36 Literary Movies and TV Shows to Watch This Fall"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Fall is the perfect time for curling up with a good book\u2014or maybe a good movie. (We\u2019re not monsters.) Even better if you can hit two birds with one stone, of course, and this after all is Literary Hub, so here we present the literary movies and TV shows\u2014adaptations, documentaries, and other book-adjacent fare\u2014we\u2019re most looking forward to this season.* Let us know what you&#8217;re most excited for in the comments.<\/p>\n<p>*<em>NB:<\/em> For this preview, I&#8217;m only including TV series premieres (you should already know about <em>Slow Horses<\/em>) and film debuts in the US market.<\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>SEPTEMBER:<\/strong><\/h1>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fn-CHu78AXA?si=SWvRFy7-qUP7UY0U\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><br \/>\nVirginia Woolf&#8217;s Night &amp; Day<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nIn theaters, September 4<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9781632060327\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Night &amp; Day<\/em><\/a> by Virginia Woolf (1919)<\/h5>\n<p>You could say Virginia Woolf <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/why-virginia-woolf-is-having-a-moment-in-hollywood\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">is having a moment<\/a>, though personally, I&#8217;d have to argue, when isn&#8217;t she? This film, which adapts Woolf&#8217;s little-read second novel, is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.moviefone.com\/news\/virginia-woolfs-night-and-day-interview-haley-bennett\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Woolf by way of John Hughes<\/a>: an Edwardian-era rom-com about an astronomer who does everything in her power to avoid what is expected of her: getting married. Tina Gharavi directs based on a screenplay by Justine Waddell; Haley Bennett stars as Katherine Hilbery, with Lily Allen as Mary Datchet, Elyas M&#8217;Barek as Ralph Denham, and Jack Whitehall as William Rodney.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pf4sOGLOV9Y?si=5xXmK_LTfnN3DEEI\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nA Tale of Two Cities<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nMGM+, September 6<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780141439600\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>A Tale of Two Cities <\/em><\/a>by Charles Dickens (1859)<\/h5>\n<p>Kit Harrington and Fran\u00e7ois Civil star as the lookalikes Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay, with Mirren Mack as Lucie Manette, in Daniel West&#8217;s four part miniseries adaptation of Dickens&#8217; historical classic, directed by Richard R. Clark. Despite <em>A Tale of Two Cities<\/em> being frequently cited (including in this trailer) as one of the best selling novels of all time, this is the first notable screen adaptation since the &#8217;80s. Reviews, alas, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.metacritic.com\/tv\/a-tale-of-two-cities\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">are mixed<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DMCyCJoxgTY?si=1f4Zp_2p1eoYUt6f\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nMasterpiece: Marble Hall Murders<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nPBS, September 6<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780063305694\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Marble Hall Murders<\/em><\/a> by Anthony Horowitz (2025)<\/h5>\n<p>The (supposed) final installment in the Susan Ryeland series finds the editor working on a curious manuscript, an Atticus P\u00fcnd continuation written by Eliot Crace, the grandson of the famous writer Miriam Crace, who claims that not only was his grandmother murdered, but that the secret is hidden within his book. Very good publicity tactic! Unless it somehow goes wrong&#8230; Lesley Manville and Tim McMullan return as Susan Ryeland and Atticus P\u00fcnd; Rebecca Gatward directs.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/M8nHySkLb64?si=kDFRX-yMgwYjAsBz\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nLast Seen<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nApple TV, September 9<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on Ryan David Jahn\u2019s <em><a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780143120704\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Dispatcher<\/a><\/em> (2011)<\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/the-literary-film-tv-you-need-to-stream-in-september-4\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Per our September streaming guide:<\/em><\/a> Patrick Brammall stars in this Australian thriller, in which a police dispatcher receives a call from a young woman who sounds like his daughter\u2014who has been missing for 11 years\u2014and must (of course) find out the truth.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FnwySGfFTdc?si=WqkNi5Ra81lVqO5h\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nThe Perfect Lie<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nNetflix, September 10<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9781904738206\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>The Dinner Club <\/em><\/a>by Saskia Noort (2004, English tr. 2007)<\/h5>\n<p>In this Dutch drama series based on Noort\u2019s bestselling novel, four rich and glamorous couples are living the dream\u2014until one of them dies in a mysterious house fire. Things begin to unravel, and Karen, the group&#8217;s newest member, finds herself pulling at threads, as everything she thought she knew about her new friends begins to unravel. The book has been pitched as &#8220;<em>Desperate Housewives<\/em> scripted by Patricia Highsmith,&#8221; which is very appealing, and it&#8217;s the first in a series, so this\u00a0<em>could\u00a0<\/em>be your new favorite thing.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BOzNaa_o9_g?si=mmLQf5dQeATPxTys\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nNeagley<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nPrime Video, September 16<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on the character created by Lee Child<\/h5>\n<p>In which Maria Sten, aka Miss Denmark Universe 2008, aka <em>Reacher<\/em>&#8216;s Frances Neagley, gets her own spin-off.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Ho10_4IX1jE?si=qMfixq9MOSiL4Lhq\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nPractical Magic 2<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nIn theaters, September 18<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9781982151492\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>The Book of Magic <\/em><\/a>by Alice Hoffman (2021)<\/h5>\n<p>28 years after the original cult classic (and <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/tag\/practical-magic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lit Hub favorite<\/a>), the Owens sisters, and aunts, and daughters (now almost grown) are back to break the curse and conjure up some Millennial nostalgia. Will it be any good? <a href=\"https:\/\/editorial.rottentomatoes.com\/article\/practical-magic-2-first-reviews\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Probably not<\/a>, but at least everybody&#8217;s skin looks magically amazing!<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8xdc8O8NHFY?si=VCH7i4Zk9-6xFQcW\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nThe Master and Margarita<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nIn theaters, January 29<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780143108276\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>The Master and Margarita <\/em><\/a>by Mikhail Bulgakov (1967)<\/h5>\n<p>After a <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/2026\/film\/global\/the-master-and-margarita-adaptation-american-release-1236823504\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">long and complicated legal battle<\/a>, Michael Lockshin&#8217;s adaptation of <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/life-got-you-down-time-to-read-the-master-and-margarita\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">one of the best novels of all time<\/a> is coming stateside, after its huge success in Russia in 2024. I am hopeful for this anti-authoritarian fantasia, which has gotten very good reviews internationally, despite the fact that I have always considered it to be nigh unfilmable. The people want Behemoth!<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xwdamnfS6IM?si=DNsdcSpWG2B2EV2M\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nThe Love Hypothesis<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nPrime Video, September 23<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:\u00a0<\/em>based on Ali Hazelwood\u2019s\u00a0<em><a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780593336823\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Love Hypothesis<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(2021)<\/h5>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/the-literary-film-tv-you-need-to-stream-in-september-4\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Per our September streaming guide:<\/em><\/a> Tom Bateman and Lili Reinhart star in this adaptation of Hazelwood\u2019s bestselling romance novel (which originated as\u00a0<em>Star Wars <\/em>fan fiction, for whatever it\u2019s worth). To be fair, it looks pretty cute.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2IEsP8uhUBY?si=UTsM9OVWUh8pditC\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nMy Sad Dead (Mis muertos tristes)<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nNetflix, September 24<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:\u00a0<\/em>based on Mariana Enriquez&#8217;s &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2023\/02\/13\/my-sad-dead\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">My Sad Dead<\/a>&#8220;<\/h5>\n<p>Very curious indeed: Pablo Larra\u00edn directs this horror miniseries, in which a doctor who can hear the dead discovers that her niece is blessed (or cursed) with a similar ability. The series is based on Enriquez&#8217;s 2023 story &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2023\/02\/13\/my-sad-dead\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">My Sad Dead<\/a>,&#8221; while also <a href=\"https:\/\/about.netflix.com\/en\/news\/netflix-announces-the-production-of-mis-muertos-tristes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">drawing from her other works<\/a>; Enriquez adapted her own stories along with Larra\u00edn, Guillermo Calder\u00f3n, and Anastasia Ayazi.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yLeja7kWgmU?si=sKmbKfjyHFUhuNjg\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nThe Final Problem<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nNetflix, September 25<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780316594349\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>The Final Problem<\/em><\/a> by Arturo P\u00e9rez-Reverte (2023, English tr. 2026)<\/h5>\n<p>This limited series manages to be doubly literary: it&#8217;s based on the best-selling novel by P\u00e9rez-Reverte\u00a0<em>and\u00a0<\/em>is inspired by Sherlock Holmes\u2014that is, it concerns a retired actor famous for playing the famous detective, who finds himself playing detective for real when he&#8217;s stranded with 12 other people in a fancy hotel on a remote island&#8230;and one of them winds up dead. Fun!<\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>OCTOBER:<\/strong><\/h1>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/M9NWvGZViCg?si=N8h4iZlXDMLH1NbK\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nEast of Eden<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nNetflix, October 1<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780140186390\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>East of Eden<\/em><\/a> by John Steinbeck (1952)<\/h5>\n<p>Zoe Kazan&#8217;s limited series, based on Steinbeck&#8217;s masterpiece, is <em>thee<\/em> marquee literary adaptation of the season, starring Florence Pugh as Cathy Ames, along with <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/florence-pugh-stars-in-the-first-trailer-for-zoe-kazans-new-east-of-eden-mini-series\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">quite a few other hot people<\/a>. Fun fact: Kazan\u2019s grandfather <a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/videos\/comments\/1kacb3r\/orson_welles_elia_kazan_is_a_traitor_during_a\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Elia Kazan<\/a> directed the 1955 adaptation. Think Zoe can top it?<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xdPMKhjMSFs?si=-WSdm3bN7LECvk6C\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nVerity<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nIn theaters, October 2<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9781538724736\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Verity<\/em><\/a> by Colleen Hoover (2018)<\/h5>\n<p>Michael Showalter directs the latest Colleen Hoover joint (from a screenplay by Nick Antosca), in which an an unemployed writer (Dakota Johnson) is hired to finish the work of a bestselling\u2014but mysteriously paralyzed\u2014author (Anne Hathaway), only to discover a manuscript that makes her question who, exactly, she&#8217;s working for. Josh Hartnett is the husband, which should tell you everything you need to know.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/V-pndoeDuKA?si=ojvSMEV4uUqIkP59\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nKill Jackie<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nPrime Video, October 2<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780525434986\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>The Price You Pay <\/em><\/a>by Nick Harkaway as Aidan Truhen (2018)<\/h5>\n<p>Catherine Zeta-Jones\u2014with her natural Welsh accent on full display for once!\u2014stars as the gender-swapped Jackie Price, an art dealer with a past so checkered that no fewer than seven assassins are hired to kill her. Well, she&#8217;ll just have to kill them first, won&#8217;t she?<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jkUw2nh6fT0?si=AjqqIg4mrfPx13Cv\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nCarrie<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nPrime Video, October 7<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9781984898104\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Carrie <\/em><\/a>by Stephen King (1974)<\/h5>\n<p>Mike Flanagan&#8217;s latest horror offering (and latest King adaptation) is a miniseries version of\u00a0<em>Carrie<\/em>, the novel&#8217;s fourth screen adaptation, which reimagines the classic in a modern high school. \u201cThe themes that Steve was talking about half a century ago of kindness versus cruelty, of empathy and bullying, and violence at school have become even more relevant today than he could have contemplated because of our relationship to technology and the degree to which violence encroaches on our high schoolers, especially in the United States,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/carrie-tv-series-first-look-mike-flanagan-modern-twist-exclusive-12015053\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Flanagan told <em>EW<\/em><\/a>. \u201cSo that meant we had an opportunity to tell a story about a modern teenage experience that could use the seeds of these characters King created 50 years ago, but express them completely differently.\u201d If anyone can do it, it&#8217;s Flanagan.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bEpTgowZ1dI?si=0Q6vPWJKFT5lFKAW\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nOther Mommy<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nIn theaters, October 9<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780593723142\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Incidents Around the House<\/em><\/a> by Josh Malerman (2024)<\/h5>\n<p>Jessica Chastain plays both Mommy and Other Mommy in this upsetting-looking horror novel, which is about exactly what you think it&#8217;s about. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wionews.com\/entertainment\/hollywood\/jessica-chastain-s-other-mommy-trailer-becomes-the-internet-s-latest-horror-obsession-1784815835774\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">horror heads are hyped<\/a>, but this scaredy-cat will be hiding in the corner.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rN9F6-tbySY?si=xa6kG_3677Kmwlnq\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nWhalefall<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nIn theaters, October 14<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9781665918176\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Whalefall<\/em><\/a> by Daniel Kraus (2023)<\/h5>\n<p>Daniel Kraus co-wrote the screenplay for the adaptation of his thriller about a young scuba diver (Austin Abrams) who, while searching for the remains of his father (Josh Brolin), gets swallowed by a sperm whale. Yep, think <em>127 hours\u00a0<\/em>x\u00a0<em>Pinocchio<\/em>. Or the Bible, I guess. Brian Duffield directs.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mcrwcvad84U?si=xb8DdxAUNdUx4ewI\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nSense and Sensibility<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nIn theaters, October 16<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780141439662\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Sense and Sensibility<\/em><\/a> by Jane Austen (1811)<\/h5>\n<p>The first of two major new Jane Austen adaptations this fall, directed by Georgia Oakley from a screenplay by Diana Reid, and starring Daisy Edgar-Jones as Elinor Dashwood and Esm\u00e9 Creed-Miles as Marianne.\u00a0<em>Sense and Sensibility<\/em> is somewhat less-trod than\u00a0<em>Pride and Prejudice\u00a0<\/em>(though don&#8217;t sleep on Ang Lee&#8217;s 1995 adaptation with Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, and Alan Rickman) so I&#8217;m a bit more interested in it; let&#8217;s see what they do.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Yn-UxPIwTsU?si=HMSsciLcFO4O1hC5\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nLa Bola Negra<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nIn theaters, October 16 \/ Netflix, December 2<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> inspired by Federico Garc\u00eda Lorca&#8217;s unfinished novel of the same name, and Alberto Conejero&#8217;s\u00a0<em>La piedra oscura<\/em><\/h5>\n<p>Directors Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi (Los Javis) won the Best Director award at Cannes this year (shared, incidentally, with another entry on this list), for their queer epic, which was inspired by an unfinished work of the same name by Federico Garc\u00eda Lorca (Alberto Cort\u00e9s appears as the poet) and Alberto Conejero\u2019s play. &#8220;We thought, \u2018Let&#8217;s make the gayest war movie ever,'&#8221; Ambrossi said <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/entertainment\/movies\/la-bola-negra-hits-telluride-let-s-make-the-gayest-war-movie-ever\/ar-AA2bHFBZ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">in a Q&amp;A at Telluride<\/a>. &#8220;That&#8217;s the politics behind this. And no one told us to change it a bit. And now, here we are.&#8221; As for Lorca&#8217;s work, &#8220;It made me understand the importance of art in a physical way\u2014the things that come to us, the pieces of art from past generations that tell us about who we were and what happened to us,&#8221; Calvo said. &#8220;At a time when art is being questioned, we have to remind ourselves that it speaks the best language.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wixzainceAE?si=-f-hQVeEyPGPUwUP\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nKlara and the Sun<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nIn theaters, October 23<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780593311295\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Klara and the Sun<\/em><\/a> by Kazuo Ishiguro (2021)<\/h5>\n<p>Taika Waititi&#8217;s <em>Klara<\/em> is certainly star-studded: Jenna Ortega is the titular Artificial Friend, and Amy Adams, Mia Tharia, Aran Murphy, Steve Buscemi, and Natasha Lyonne round out the cast. But will it, one wonders, be as goofy as it seems from the trailer? Ishiguro&#8217;s novel is a haunting, sad story about loss and time passing and the nature of humanity, and this seems quite a bit cuter than that. Still, Waititi <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/story\/klara-and-the-sun-first-look-taika-waititi-jenna-ortega\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">has called it<\/a> &#8220;his most dramatic movie yet,&#8221; so there may be some introspection yet.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-I2-X9v-ogs?si=i6x-rP5m7wSPbBuI\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nFatherland<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nMubi, October 23<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> concerning the writer Thomas Mann<\/h5>\n<p>Sandra H\u00fcller and Hanns Zischler star as Erika and Thomas Mann on a road trip in 1949 Germany in Pawe\u0142 Pawlikowski&#8217;s latest film, for which he won Best Director at Cannes. Aside from the fact that one should always see anything with H\u00fcller in it, the film has already garnered <a href=\"https:\/\/www.metacritic.com\/movie\/fatherland\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">glowing reviews<\/a>, including from\u00a0<em>The Guardian<\/em>&#8216;s Peter Bradshaw, who called it &#8220;an impossibly elegant, poised historical vignette whose brevity and control can hardly contain its characters\u2019 personal and historical pain.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fg4oXsFcdiI?si=ZpDQ6HK9oQytyGlV\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nWicker<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nIn theaters, October 23<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on &#8220;The Wicker Husband&#8221; by Ursula Wills (2008)<\/h5>\n<p>Olivia Colman is a smelly medieval fisherwoman who marries\u2014checks notes\u2014a basket? No, it&#8217;s a man made out of wicker, played by Alexander Skarsg\u00e5rd, with whom she then proceeds to have nonstop hot sex, rather disturbing the denizens of their little village. Throw in Peter Dinklage as the master weaver who builds her dream man, Richard E. Grant as the town doctor, and the very literary tagline &#8220;a hard man is good to find,&#8221; and I, my friends, am very interested. Actually, I think I do have some baskets around here somewhere&#8230;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dtr5JL1zkiM?si=7nLJaXaEsPXKX5jG\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nWildwood<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nIn theaters, October 23<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780062024701\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Wildwood<\/em><\/a> by Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis (2011)<\/h5>\n<p>After more than 15 years, Laika&#8217;s ambitious stop-motion adaptation of\u00a0<em>Wildwood\u00a0<\/em>is finally coming to theaters. &#8220;A huge part of the reason it\u2019s taken us so long to bring this to life cinematically is that it\u2019s incredibly ambitious,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.empireonline.com\/movies\/news\/wildwood-first-look-hardest-film-laika-studios-exclusive\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">says director Travis Knight<\/a>. &#8220;We\u2019ve had to build up the creative tools, the technology and our storytelling muscles to do this book justice.\u201d Quite a statement considering all five previous films produced by Laika have been nominated for Best Animated Feature Oscars. Maybe this will be the year they win?<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lvvsoy092H8?si=Dysx5Sz28vbSgfkN\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nNocturne<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nApple TV, October 30<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780525433057\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>The Sandman<\/em><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780593310830\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Lazarus<\/em><\/a> by Lars Kepler (2012, 2018)<\/h5>\n<p>Liev Schreiber stars as Jonah Lynn in this adaptation of the bestselling Swedish thrillers (written by husband and wife team Alexander Ahndoril and Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril under the name Lars Kepler), a former homicide detective who relocates to a small town in Pennsylvania town, only to find its citizens being terrorized by a notorious serial killer Jurek Walter (Stephen Graham), despite the fact that he&#8217;s already behind bars. Finally Jonah must call on Saga Bauer (Zazie Beetz), his surrogate daughter, to try and get Jurek to talk before it&#8217;s too late.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-rWIE3-SIOg?si=pN8hxxtdun9ORUOX\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nThe Mosquito Bowl<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nIn theaters, October 30 \/ Netflix, November 25<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780062879936\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>The Mosquito Bowl <\/em><\/a>by Buzz Bissinger (2022)<\/h5>\n<p>Peter Berg and Buzz Bissinger are back together again, this time for\u00a0<em>The Mosquito Bowl<\/em>, which dramatizes the famous American football game played between two regiments of Marines\u2014which included many of the country&#8217;s best football players\u2014at Guadalcanal during World War II. Nicholas Galitzine, Bill Skarsg\u00e5rd, Ray Nicholson, and Tom Francis star.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rQgSjaBy6bI?si=e4VYxzojzQP10rks\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nYaga<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nAMC+, October TBA<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780369101655\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Yaga <\/em><\/a>by Kat Sandler (2019)<\/h5>\n<p>Canadian playwright Kat Sandler has turned her 2019 play based on the legend of Baba Yaga into a television show for Canada&#8217;s Crave (the same platform that brought us <em>Heated Rivalry<\/em>). And yes, Hudson Williams is in it, along with Carrie-Anne Moss, Noah Reid, and Clark Backo. Looks deranged; I&#8217;ll watch it!<\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>NOVEMBER:<\/strong><\/h1>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"276850\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/36-literary-movies-and-tv-shows-to-watch-this-fall\/the-good-daughter\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/the-good-daughter.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1420,798\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;\\u2122 \\u00a9 2025 Peacock TV LLC. All Rights Reserved.&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"the good daughter\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/the-good-daughter-1240x697.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-276850\" src=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/the-good-daughter-1240x697.jpg\" alt=\"the good daughter\" width=\"1240\" height=\"697\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/the-good-daughter-1240x697.jpg 1240w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/the-good-daughter-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/the-good-daughter-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/the-good-daughter-60x34.jpg 60w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/the-good-daughter-50x28.jpg 50w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/the-good-daughter.jpg 1420w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1240px) 100vw, 1240px\" \/>The Good Daughter<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nPeacock, November 12<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780062696298\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>The Good Daughter<\/em><\/a> by Karin Slaughter (2017)<\/h5>\n<p>In Karin Slaughter&#8217;s adaptation of her own instant <em>New York Times<\/em> bestseller, Rose Byrne and Meghann Fahy star as sisters whose lives were upended by violence decades before, and now find themselves forced to face it again. Brendan Gleeson also stars, which is never a bad sign.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sDiFol_2j2I?si=W-Tt_mPfgMpCn7nN\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nVictorian Psycho<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nIn theaters, November 13<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9781324097785\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Victorian Psycho<\/em><\/a> by Virginia Feito (2025)<\/h5>\n<p>From the look of things, Feito&#8217;s macabre sense of humor has been ably translated to the screen\u2014not surprising, as she wrote the screenplay herself. Zachary Wigon directs, and Maika Monroe stars as Winifred Notty, a governess who tries and fails not to be a complete, well, <em>psycho<\/em> in this irreverent, gory horror.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/A7lyvgnDuDE?si=rv1IrQZRmHPxDoKh\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nEbenezer<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nIn theaters, November 13<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780141324524\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>A Christmas Carol <\/em><\/a>by Charles Dickens (1843)<\/h5>\n<p>I leave this here not as a recommendation, exactly, but because the concept is so tone-deaf as to be deeply hilarious: Well, everyone knows Ebenezer Scrooge was an evil, wealthy miser who hated Christmas. What Ti West&#8217;s new movie presupposes is&#8230; maybe he wasn&#8217;t? Johnny Depp stars (they really want to make sure you understand that Johnny! Depp! Stars!) in this revisionist adaptation of the adapted-to-death Dickens novella, which attempts to, ahem, make a case for Scrooge. The evil rich guy. In 2026. \u201cIn other adaptations, Scrooge is kind of an asshole, and then the rest of the characters are benevolent, perfect people. And it was really our goal to try to balance that out to say that there\u2019s much more of a gray area in the story,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/ebenezer-ian-mckellen-tramell-tillman-first-look-johnny-depp-scrooge-charm-12071037\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">West told <i>EW<\/i><\/a>. \u201cWe want to give Scrooge logic and a good argument, so when he is making an argument about something, he\u2019s not wrong.\u201d\u00a0It&#8217;s &#8220;the name you know, the story you don&#8217;t.&#8221; Sure, but couldn&#8217;t these 38 million dollars be better spent elsewhere?<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fS35YSjopjE?si=zE3f_t4XmKte3Cl0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nThe Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nIn theaters, November 20<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9781546171461\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Sunrise on the Reaping <\/em><\/a>by Suzanne Collins (2025)<\/h5>\n<p>Suzanne Collins keeps churning out the prequels, and Hollywood keeps making them. This one is supposedly based on the work of philosopher David Hume. Ok!<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0Dr8I_RyRCg?si=S8J1VPyOCAFRRGVa\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nBlade Runner 2099<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nPrime Video, November 25<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on characters from Philip K. Dick&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780345404473\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? <\/em><\/a>(1968)<\/h5>\n<p>Michelle Yeoh and Hunter Schafer star in Silka Luisa&#8217;s miniseries spin-off, which, as the title suggests, takes place 50 years after the events of <em>Blade Runner 2049<\/em>. Now, it&#8217;s Replicants who rule the world (or at least LA), and humans who find themselves at the bottom of the barrel, which honestly sounds like the franchise&#8217;s most realistic version of the future yet.<\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>DECEMBER:<\/strong><\/h1>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"276929\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/36-literary-movies-and-tv-shows-to-watch-this-fall\/m0zuuomabkof9kaajycex454jqe-539181480\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/m0zUUOMaBKOF9kaaJycEX454jqe-539181480.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1920,1080\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"clarissa 2026\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/m0zUUOMaBKOF9kaaJycEX454jqe-539181480-1240x698.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-276929\" src=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/m0zUUOMaBKOF9kaaJycEX454jqe-539181480-1240x698.jpg\" alt=\"clarissa 2026\" width=\"1240\" height=\"698\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/m0zUUOMaBKOF9kaaJycEX454jqe-539181480-1240x698.jpg 1240w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/m0zUUOMaBKOF9kaaJycEX454jqe-539181480-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/m0zUUOMaBKOF9kaaJycEX454jqe-539181480-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/m0zUUOMaBKOF9kaaJycEX454jqe-539181480-60x34.jpg 60w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/m0zUUOMaBKOF9kaaJycEX454jqe-539181480-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/m0zUUOMaBKOF9kaaJycEX454jqe-539181480-50x28.jpg 50w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/m0zUUOMaBKOF9kaaJycEX454jqe-539181480.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1240px) 100vw, 1240px\" \/>Clarissa<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nIn theaters, December 11<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780593311806\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Mrs. Dalloway <\/em><\/a>by Virginia Woolf (1925)<\/h5>\n<p>Another Virginia Woolf adaptation, this one a reimagining of <em>Mrs. Dalloway<\/em> set in contemporary Lagos. Directed and produced by Arie Esiri and Chuko Esiri, the film stars Sophie Okonedo as Clarissa, along with David Oyelowo, India Amarteifio, Toheeb Jimoh, Nikki Amuka-Bird, and Ayo Edebiri. Looks gorgeous, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/2026\/may\/16\/clarissa-review-virginia-woolf-mrs-dalloway-nigeria\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">early reviews are very promising<\/a>. Can&#8217;t wait for this one.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eokBqEFiVHs?si=xd9KuW2CPsWuY2_T\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nInk<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nIn theaters, December 11<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9781350146327\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Ink<\/em><\/a> by James Graham (2017)<\/h5>\n<p>Guy Pearce is Rupert Murdoch and Jack O&#8217;Connell is Larry Lamb in this story about the former&#8217;s 1969 takeover of British tabloid <em>The Sun<\/em>\u2014and what happened after. &#8220;The movie treats this transition, and the soaring rise in under a decade of the relaunched <em>Sun<\/em> to become the country\u2019s highest-circulation daily, as a raucous caper, in which the Mephistophelean Murdoch seduces Lamb into a Faustian pact that gradually sees the editor eclipse his employer in bottom line-driven ruthlessness,&#8221; writes David Rooney in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-reviews\/ink-review-jack-oconnell-guy-pearce-danny-boyle-murdoch-1236686614\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>The Hollywood Reporter<\/em><\/a>. &#8220;It\u2019s all visually stimulating and highly enjoyable in its anti-establishment attitude, even if the impression remains that this is a morality play with an elusive point of view.&#8221; The legendary Danny Boyle directs, with a screenplay adapted by Graham from his stage play.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NdvqHc56lE0?si=S0QVl9iPr2x184wo\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nDune: Part Three<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nIn theaters, December 18<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780593098233\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Dune Messiah <\/em><\/a>by Frank Herbert (1969)<\/h5>\n<p>Now with even more\u00a0<em>Dune<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>ALSO EXPECTED:<\/strong><\/h1>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4bSKM9WWT08?si=2ibx_DuSwsItqJDI\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nPride and Prejudice<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nNetflix, Fall 2026<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780141439518\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Pride and Prejudice <\/em><\/a>by Jane Austen (1813)<\/h5>\n<p>There is no release date set for Dolly Alderton&#8217;s six-part miniseries adaptation of Austen&#8217;s most beloved property, but the hype is real. (The Austen adaptations keep coming, and <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/why-jane-austen-adaptations-just-keep-coming-and-we-keep-watching\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">we all keep lining up to watch<\/a>.) Emma Corrin stars as Elizabeth Bennet, and <em>Slow Horses&#8217; <\/em>Jack Lowden is Mr. Darcy, but I have to say I&#8217;m most excited to see Olivia Colman and Rufus Sewell as Mrs. and Mr. Bennet.\u00a0Euros Lyn (<em>Heartstopper<\/em>) directs.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"276962\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/36-literary-movies-and-tv-shows-to-watch-this-fall\/81s74xembl-_ac_uf10001000_ql80_\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/81S74xEMbL._AC_UF10001000_QL80_.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"642,1000\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"jhumpa lahiri unaccustomed earth\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/81S74xEMbL._AC_UF10001000_QL80_.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-276962\" src=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/81S74xEMbL._AC_UF10001000_QL80_-193x300.jpg\" alt=\"jhumpa lahiri unaccustomed earth\" width=\"193\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/81S74xEMbL._AC_UF10001000_QL80_-193x300.jpg 193w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/81S74xEMbL._AC_UF10001000_QL80_-39x60.jpg 39w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/81S74xEMbL._AC_UF10001000_QL80_-32x50.jpg 32w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/81S74xEMbL._AC_UF10001000_QL80_.jpg 642w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 193px) 100vw, 193px\" \/>Unaccustomed Earth<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\nNetflix, Fall 2026<\/h3>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Literary bona fides:<\/em> based on <em><a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780307278258\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Unaccustomed Earth<\/a> <\/em>by Jhumpa Lahiri (2008)<\/h5>\n<p>Though we have yet to see a trailer, or even any images from set, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/tudum\/articles\/unaccustomed-earth-jhumpa-lahiri-series-cast-photos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Netflix tells us<\/a> that Madhuri Shekar&#8217;s series adaptation of Lahiri&#8217;s bestselling short story collection will be &#8220;an epic, soapy drama about an immigrant community navigating love, desire, and belonging. . . . When a star-crossed romance between a devoted wife (Freida Pinto) and her long-lost love (Siddharth) comes to light, a scandalous affair is born, and new battle lines are drawn in the elite, insular Indian American community of Cambridge, Massachusetts.&#8221; I&#8217;m listening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fall is the perfect time for curling up with a good book\u2014or maybe a good movie. (We\u2019re not monsters.) Even better if you can hit two birds with one stone, of course, and this after all is Literary Hub, so<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1210,"featured_media":276849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[43093,11,43092],"tags":[31179,26834,3131,81571,22956,73452],"class_list":["post-276425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film-and-tv","category-fullwidth-slider","category-newsandculture","tag-fall-preview","tag-film-adaptations","tag-literary-adaptations","tag-streaming-guide","tag-tv-adaptations","tag-what-to-watch","story-type-what-to-watch"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5rKFr-19Ut","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/fall26literaryfilmtv.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":276964,"date":"2026-09-14T05:09:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T09:09:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/?p=276964"},"modified":"2026-09-13T06:17:01","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T10:17:01","slug":"this-week-in-literary-history-john-keats-writes-to-autumn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/this-week-in-literary-history-john-keats-writes-to-autumn\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in Literary History: John Keats Writes \u201cTo Autumn\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><em>This first appeared in Lit Hub\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>Literary History<em>\u00a0newsletter\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/email-preference-center\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sign up here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>On September 19, 1819, after walking along the River Itchen in Hampshire, England, the 24-year-old poet John Keats\u2014who had, earlier that year, completed \u201cOde on a Grecian Urn,\u201d \u201cOde to a Nightingale,\u201d and other now-famous works\u2014composed what would become one of the most beloved fall poems in the English language: the aptly titled \u201cTo Autumn.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We know, because on Tuesday, September 21st, Keats wrote about it to his friend John Hamilton Reynolds:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\">How beautiful the season is now. How fine the air \u2013 a temperate sharpness about it. Really, without joking \u2013 Dian skies. I never liked stubble-fields so much as now \u2013 aye, better than the chilly green of the Spring. Somehow, a stubble plain looks warm, in the same way that some pictures look warm. This struck me so much in my Sunday\u2019s walk that I composed upon it.<\/p>\n<p>The resulting poem was later included in Keats&#8217;s 1820 collection <em>Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems<\/em>, and is still widely read today, for good reason. \u201cThe poem is well-rounded in every sense\u2014all five senses, to be exact,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/trk.send.lithub.com\/l\/01M28J7SJQAFYS4ZRTW1698QBW_1\">writes Caitlin Kimball<\/a>. \u201cVisions of abundance and frantic industry yield to delicious indolence, and the poem\u2019s luxuriously light touches, fragrances, and tastes culminate in a delicate but persistent chorus.\u201d But he is clear-eyed about the tragedy of autumn, too. \u201cAs much as the poet has absorbed his senses in an essence apart from himself, making no evaluations or claims for transcendence, he has taken pains to rescue and preserve the season whole\u2014diminishment and all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Soon after writing the poem, alas, Keats would recognize the signs of tuberculosis in his lungs, an illness he knew well, as it had killed his younger brother Tom; he would die from it less than two years later.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/trk.send.lithub.com\/l\/01M28J7SJQAFYS4ZRTW1698QBW_2\">Read \u201cTo Autumn\u201d here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This first appeared in Lit Hub\u2019s\u00a0Literary History\u00a0newsletter\u2014sign up here. On September 19, 1819, after walking along the River Itchen in Hampshire, England, the 24-year-old poet John Keats\u2014who had, earlier that year, completed \u201cOde on a Grecian Urn,\u201d \u201cOde to a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":276965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6,43101,43070],"tags":[5909,5478,212,108293],"class_list":["post-276964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-history","category-literary-criticism","tag-john-keats","tag-literary-history","tag-poetry","tag-this-week-in-literary-history","story-type-literary-history"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5rKFr-1a3a","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/keatsautumn.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":276637,"date":"2026-09-14T05:09:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T09:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/?p=276637"},"modified":"2026-09-07T21:16:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T01:16:47","slug":"a-question-of-innocence-on-writing-about-real-and-imagined-lives-in-and-outside-of-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/a-question-of-innocence-on-writing-about-real-and-imagined-lives-in-and-outside-of-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"A Question of Innocence: On Writing About Real and Imagined Lives In and Outside of Prison"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This spring, I read Harriet Clark\u2019s novel, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/05\/05\/books\/review\/harriet-clark-the-hill.html\"><i>The Hill<\/i><\/a>, about a girl named Suzanna who grows up visiting her mother in a prison on a hill. I had just published a long <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esquire.com\/news-politics\/a71223020\/happy-mothers-day-from-prison-son-family-essay\/\">Mother\u2019s Day essay<\/a> in <i>Esquire<\/i>, grappling with having spent the past twenty-five years in prison, unable to show up for my mother as she grew old. It struck me that Harriet\u2019s novel dealt with a kind of inverse of my situation, and I was surprised to see some of myself in Suzanna\u2014her abandonment, shame, helplessness.<\/p>\n<p>Suzanna\u2019s mother was part of a revolutionary group, the getaway driver in a bank robbery, which left one guard dead, and she was sentenced to life in prison. Suzanna\u2019s grandmother, who raises her, antagonizes the situation and tells Suzanna that her mother chose a political cause over her responsibilities as a mother.<\/p>\n<p><i>The Hill<\/i> is the kind of fiction that rhymes with real life. In 1981, Harriet Clark\u2019s mother, Judith Clark, drove one of the getaway cars in the notorious Brinks armored truck heist. By the end of the doomed plot, a Brinks guard and two police offers were shot and killed. Judith wound up with 75 years to life. Harriet was eleven months old when the robbery went down, and, like Suzanna, grew up visiting her mother in prison. Harriet was raised by her grandmother, but unlike Suzanna, she was also raised and mentored by people in her mother\u2019s collective. I served time with one of Judith\u2019s codefendants and I know their ilk: kind, educated, idealistic, and always of service to the people around them.<\/p>\n<p>Harriet went to Stanford, got an MFA from the Iowa Writers\u2019 Workshop, received a Stegner Fellowship in fiction. She taught creative writing at Stanford for twelve years, and edited fiction at <i>The Paris Review<\/i>. Harriet lives in New York with her wife and son. She likes helping people develop their projects, books and sometimes films, but she told me that <i>The Hill<\/i> was \u201cthe one story I had to tell.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hope that one can feel the truth and necessity of personal responsibility in the book\u2014the mother\u00a0<i>has\u00a0<\/i>contributed to loss of life, the mother\u00a0<i>has<\/i>\u00a0left her child,\u201d she added, \u201cbut the greatest source of suffering in the book, the suffering that impacts the most people, is the prison.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I called Harriet from Sing Sing, and exchanged emails with her through my publicist. Below is our conversation, about mothers, writing, abandonment, and prison.<\/p>\n<p>*<\/p>\n<p><strong>John J. Lennon:<\/strong> In <i>The Hill<\/i>, the narrator Suzanna\u2019s mother takes part in a bank robbery, winds up with life in prison, and leaves her daughter without a mother, at least in the traditional sense. Suzanna visiting her mother in prison fills the space of abandonment. With your fiction, which rhymes with your own life, I wonder if it\u2019s cathartic to create these alternative characters who experience these feelings and ideas and dialogues adjacent to your own.<\/p>\n<p class=\"pullquote\">Fiction exposes my unlived life, which feels just as intimate as my lived one.<\/p>\n<p>Fiction, I imagine, offers a kind of literary immunity\u2014that\u2019s Suzanna, not me!\u2014right?\u00a0Not nonfiction. In a recent essay about my mom, I wrote this: \u201cOddly, I felt most loved by mom, felt closest to her, after I went away.\u201d That essay helped me figure out how I felt about my mother. What did writing\u00a0<i>The Hill\u00a0<\/i>help you figure out?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Harriet Clark:<\/strong> Catharsis and immunity\u2014I would enjoy both of these, I think, but I don\u2019t know if the book provided either. In terms of immunity, my hope was that setting the book in an imagined realm would protect my family\u2019s privacy and the privacy of the women at my mother\u2019s prison, but the truth is that sharing what I\u2019ve imagined feels as exposing as sharing what I\u2019ve experienced. In life, I was never brought to the scene of my mother\u2019s crime, but in fiction, I brought my narrator there. So fiction exposes my unlived life, which feels just as intimate as my lived one.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s harder for me to answer your question about catharsis. There\u2019s a set of feelings the book allowed me to access\u2014forced me, even, to return to, day after day, year after year. That I chose to work on a project that made me return to those feelings for twenty years suggests that something in me needed to feel those things. I\u2019m referencing here not only the loneliness and bewilderment that run through the book, but also the feelings the actual writing brought up, which were: incompetence, helplessness, overwhelm, shame. I must have needed to keep wringing those out of me, but I don\u2019t think I did wring them out. I\u2019m not free or purged of those feelings now, but on a good day I feel more at peace with them; we\u2019ve become longtime companions.<\/p>\n<p>In your book, <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/john-j-lennon-on-humanity-in-prison-and-the-sensationalism-of-the-true-crime-genre\/\"><i>The Tragedy of True Crime<\/i><\/a>, you write, in reference to a beating your mother gave you, \u201cthe first people who introduced us to fear and pain and violence were the ones who were supposed to love and protect and nurture us the most.\u201d The portrait of your mother that comes through in \u201cHappy Mother\u2019s Day, from Prison,\u201d is tender and harrowing and incredibly powerful; it feels very brave to me that you wrote it. I\u2019m curious what your biggest concerns were when writing about your mother. Were there things you decided to take out or add as you went along? How did it feel after the piece was published?<\/p>\n<p>There are also moments in the <i>Esquire <\/i>essay that were painful for me to read, like when your mother starts leaving you alone in the apartment at night when you\u2019re only four or five. Reading that, I thought of young-you waking up alone in the night. And I thought of grown-you, returning to those nights in order to write the piece. It made me wonder about your writing routines\u2014where you are when you write, what you do after writing an upsetting scene like that. To write inside prison means you can\u2019t just take a walk or easily do something to lift your spirits after immersing in painful material. Reading the essay, I encountered a child who, like so many children, did not get all the care he needed and I wondered how that child, now grown, took care of himself while writing this.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JJL:<\/strong> Seeing the prison world through Suzanna\u2019s little girl\u2019s point of view gives a kind of fantastical quality to this brutal environment. She is a perfectly innocent protagonist narrator. The reader adores Suzanna. I know I did. Her wit, her toughness, her loyalty. She kept returning to the prison for visits with her mother \u201cby choice, not by curse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHappy Mother\u2019s Day, from Prison\u201d might be more complicated for readers because Mom and I aren\u2019t that sympathetic, perhaps not in the typical sense. In terms of my concerns with writing about my mother, I\u2019ll say this. All my life, people have always talked shit about her, telling me she wasn\u2019t a good mother. And I know you can relate to that, too. That\u2019s what made me want to write Mom\u2019s story.<\/p>\n<p>It was hard for me to hear what my mother endured as a little girl, the rejection from her mother, the sexual abuse. I interviewed my aunt who told me that my mom did sex work when I was one or two years old. I never knew that. When I told my brother, he wasn\u2019t happy. \u201cWhy do you have to put that in there about mom?\u201d He told me to take his name out of the piece, and so I just used an initial for him. But I knew I had to include this because it shows her struggle, and I think this allows for some grace from the reader when we learn how she later fails at motherhood, and I fail at being a decent son. I\u2019d like to think my mother redeems herself because she stood by me when I went away, which provided the foundation for my comeback.<\/p>\n<p>As for my routine, I\u2019ve never been a writer on the outside. I thumb-tapped this response to you on my 6-inch tablet, lying flat on my back on the floor of my cell. None of the options are great; sitting on the overturned milk crate makes my back burn by midday and the hard concrete actually feels good when my body is sore. But to answer your question, after writing a tough scene like the one you mentioned, I stand up, stretch for a few minutes, and pace in my cell.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve been told my writing causes the family of the man I murdered more suffering. When I think through how I feel about this, I\u2019m all over the place: angry, defensive, prideful, ashamed. I think it\u2019s fair to say we both write about tragedy, though neither you (nor Suzanna) have any direct culpability. You speak very delicately about the family members of the three officers killed in your mother&#8217;s case.<\/p>\n<p>Selfishly, I wonder if you have any advice for me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>HC:<\/strong> I\u2019m struck by your use of the word \u201cinnocent\u201d to describe Suzanna and confess that I bristle at the word. It seems to me that innocence exists\u2014as a word and an idea, as a class of people\u2014in order to delineate and create the other class of people: the guilty. And do children actually feel innocent? I certainly didn\u2019t. My grandfather died when I was eight and I know that I felt personally responsible for his death; I thought that my difficulties sleeping at night\u2014I\u2019ve always been afraid of the dark\u2014had undermined his own sleep and somehow caused his heart attack. I think children often feel guilty and are often made to feel guilty by the people around them.<\/p>\n<p>In early versions of my book it was very important to me that we understand Suzanna as someone with her own sense of guilt. There used to be a chapter in the book where a woman is run over in front of Suzanna and Suzanna is convinced that she\u2019s to blame for the accident. (The chapter did not make clear if she was or wasn\u2019t). In earlier versions of the book the mother was also \u201cguiltier\u201d: she had blood directly on her hands, not in the more indirect way a getaway driver does.\u00a0My hope, in showing the dehumanizing conditions in prison, was not to suggest that anyone should be spared this because they\u2019re innocent, but spared this because they\u2019re a living being.<\/p>\n<p>My feeling is that mothers, like prisoners, are a class of people we blame for sufferings\u2014very real sufferings\u2014that are often structural and social in origin. This is part of the power of your piece: the limitations of your mother\u2019s mothering do come through, and yet we understand that she is parenting inside the profound constraints of poverty and misogyny and her own abandonments. We want mothers to provide a safe and happy life for children, but in practice, as a society, we make this nearly impossible. This is one of the reasons, I think, that it\u2019s so painful when people talk shit about our mothers. I believe that children are aware, however vaguely, of the immense pressures our mothers are under, so when someone insults our mother, it\u2019s a way of gaslighting us about how violence and difficulty are really working in our lives, and in the world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"pullquote\">I think children often feel guilty and are often made to feel guilty by the people around them.<\/p>\n<p>In terms of personal responsibility, you raise the harm our writing can cause other people, especially the survivors of a crime. It\u2019s hard for me to deliver my thoughts on that within the compressed public format of this exchange. But briefly: it is an inescapable truth of my life that the things we do affect other people. My preference is to treat this as an opportunity, not just a hindrance. Does the fact that other people exist constrain me? Yes, every day in myriad ways. Are there things I can\u2019t\u2014or more to the point, won\u2019t\u2014write or say because of how they might impact other people? Definitely. But this pushes me to discover what I can write and say that still feels meaningful and true to me. If I focus too much on the constraint, it can get in the way of my thinking through the dilemma more creatively and humanely. I don\u2019t mean this at all glibly, but I do wonder how the reality of your survivors, your ability to fully register them as real and to adapt a caring and protective stance towards them\u2014can\u00a0<i>enable<\/i>\u00a0your development as a writer, rather than inhibit it. How can their presence push you to write in ways you wouldn\u2019t have otherwise?<\/p>\n<p>I was very moved by the piece you wrote on this topic, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/magazine\/2019\/10\/28\/ive-built-career-prolific-prison-journalist-so-why-did-it-take-me-so-long-write-letter-family-man-i-killed\/\">The Apology Letter<\/a>,\u201d and it made me think about the many thresholds we cross in the process of becoming more aware and alive and responsible people. Sometimes folks refer to my book as a \u201ccoming of age\u201d story and I am always bewildered by this term. What age are we coming to? I have never well understood what distinguishes an adult from a child. The process you describe in \u201cThe Apology Letter\u201d feels like one more form of growing up. Can I ask what \u201ccoming of age\u201d means to you? When did you stop being a child? When did you start being an adult? Was there a stretch of time between the two?<\/p>\n<p><strong>JJL:<\/strong> How I see Suzanna or how other readers see her may be different than how you hoped to present her. It\u2019s always difficult to let our work have a life of its own. Now that\u00a0<i>The Hill<\/i>\u00a0is out in the world, Suzanna belongs to the reader, right?<\/p>\n<p>I appreciate that, with\u00a0<i>The Hill<\/i>, you wanted to show that even the guilty should be spared the indignities of prison. But I wonder if that really was the takeaway for most readers. It\u2019s tough to know what will stick for people. People always ask me how to fix our prison problem, but there are much smarter people than me\u2014like your mother, Judith!\u2014who are doing that work. I feel like I\u2019m doing my best work when I\u2019m offering an experience of prison, with narrative and first-person reporting, instead of prescribing solutions for problems in prison. And this is exactly what\u00a0<i>The Hill<\/i>\u00a0does so beautifully.<\/p>\n<p>I hadn\u2019t ever thought of the constraints I face as a writer\u2014that my writing can cause more pain to the people I\u2019ve already hurt\u2014as something that could actually push me creatively. I have to sit with that. Maybe we can talk more about that sometime.<\/p>\n<p>To answer your question, I don\u2019t really know what \u201ccoming of age\u201d means, either. It\u2019s funny, as a child I was made to experience adult things, like the abandonment when my mother didn\u2019t come home or her instructions not to answer a knock on the door from the feds. And yet, for much of my adulthood, I\u2019ve behaved like a child. In prison, there\u2019s a lot of immature behavior. We clique up, we make fun of the marginalized. It\u2019s all peer pressure and groupthink, right? I think I started to become an adult when I started to see myself as something more than a murderer or a convict. Journalism helped me grow up. I suppose I\u2019ve come of age in prison.<\/p>\n<p><i>The Hill<\/i>\u2019s ending made me sad, but the real ending of your experience with prison is happier. In 2016, then Governor Andrew Cuomo commuted your mother Judith\u2019s sentence, and she was later paroled. She has continued to be a mentor and hero to many people both inside and outside. As the Director of the Survivors Justice Project, she advocates for incarcerated people who are the victims of domestic violence. You must be so proud of her.<\/p>\n<p>I get the sense that you are very protective of your life with your mother, but can I ask you to share one of your favorite memories together, in freedom?<\/p>\n<p><strong>HC:<\/strong> Contrary to my previous suggestion that I didn\u2019t want to overplay Suzanna\u2019s innocence, the truth is that focusing on what prison does to \u201cinnocent children\u201d was indeed my agenda. The problem is that I lost faith in that agenda along the way. I began this version of the book in 2017 in the wake of Trump\u2019s family separation policy at the border, when people seemed to care what happened to children, when it seemed\u2014now this feels very na\u00efve to me\u2014that if people understood what prisons did to millions of innocent children then maybe that would ignite more outrage and resistance. But I finished the book amidst the genocide in Gaza, when it\u2019s clear that everyone knows exactly what is happening to children there and it is not rousing the majority to stop the assault or protect the young. So my approach and agenda have come to feel much shakier to me. Maybe that\u2019s part of why I bristled at the word \u201cinnocent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In terms of what we carry with us from prison, I\u2019ve come to feel about prison the way I feel about childhood: that just because we bore it, doesn\u2019t mean it wasn\u2019t unbearable. So we carry with us both the ways we bore it and the truth that it was unbearable.<\/p>\n<p>One of my favorite memories of my mother in freedom is from her first day out. Our extended family took a walk together\u2014a big group of us wandering above Marcus Garvey Park\u2014and my mother was beaming to everyone she passed. Not only because she was so happy but because she had spent the last 38 years in a place where she knew almost everyone; she was used to acknowledging each person she passed. (\u201cNo strangers in prison,\u201d my mother used to tell me, though that\u2019s because she was in a much smaller facility than the ones you\u2019ve been in.) She kept smiling and saying hi to people and she also kept saying, \u201cI just got out of prison!\u201d She walked by a woman carrying a big bouquet of flowers and said, \u201cWhat beautiful flowers. I just got out of forty years in prison!\u201d And the woman, sort of shocked, handed the flowers right over to my mother. So for the rest of our walk my mother was carrying this beautiful bouquet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This spring, I read Harriet Clark\u2019s novel, The Hill, about a girl named Suzanna who grows up visiting her mother in a prison on a hill. I had just published a long Mother\u2019s Day essay in Esquire, grappling with having<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25413,"featured_media":276689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[43069,6,43072],"tags":[4362,1482,23613,109876,3512,50,37493,3368,23549,20047],"class_list":["post-276637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-craftandcriticism","category-features","category-in-conversation","tag-childhood","tag-family","tag-fiction-writing","tag-harriet-clark","tag-interview","tag-interviews-2","tag-john-j-lennon","tag-prison","tag-the-hill","tag-writers-in-conversation","story-type-writers-in-conversation"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5rKFr-19XT","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/prison.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25413"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":276608,"date":"2026-09-14T05:08:43","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T09:08:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/?p=276608"},"modified":"2026-09-07T21:19:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T01:19:24","slug":"how-opening-a-bookstore-inspired-my-new-novel-and-made-me-think-about-my-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/how-opening-a-bookstore-inspired-my-new-novel-and-made-me-think-about-my-community\/","title":{"rendered":"When Your Town Needs a Bookstore&#8230; Why Not Open One Yourself?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The morning my life changed, I was sitting in a cafe talking to a student at a writers conference in Southampton. My phone rang, but I didn\u2019t answer it.<\/p>\n<p>When the student left, I saw the missed call was from a woman I had worked with on a task force on housing affordability in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, where I live. Our kids were the same age, and my daughter used to go to her house for ACT prep classes. That\u2019s the kind of town Swarthmore is: small enough that you often know people a couple of different ways.<\/p>\n<p>When I called Beth back, she too was sitting in a cafe, looking across one of Swarthmore\u2019s main streets at a building she\u2019d just learned was for sale. \u201cDon\u2019t you think Swarthmore needs an independent bookstore?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n<p>I should tell you that Swarthmore is a very small town. There are only about 7,000 residents, including the students at the local college. We do support a coffee shop, a pizza parlor, and a small grocery store, but just barely. Were we big enough for a bookstore? I wasn\u2019t sure. Still, I didn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"pullquote\">What was Swarthmore becoming, and was it the sort of place I would still want to live?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t you think you and I should open it?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>For a while before that phone call, I\u2019d been waiting to see what the universe might offer me. The teaching I\u2019d been doing was starting to dry up, and also, I was feeling I had less to offer as a teacher. Who knows what makes a work of fiction good or bad, let alone more or less likely to be published? There was a time when I thought I did, but over the years I\u2019d grown less confident in my own clarity. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s a bad thing, but I do think it makes it hard to teach.<\/p>\n<p>More importantly, having spent decades doing my novelist\u2019s work alone in a room, I had grown restless. I\u2019d worked for a while as a grant writer, and later as a newspaper editor, but those jobs, too, were solitary. What would be <i>not<\/i> solitary, pay a salary, and be writing adjacent?<\/p>\n<p>So when Beth asked me that second question, I only hesitated for a moment before saying yes.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, opening a bookstore\u2014working in a bookstore\u2014is kind of a romantic dream. Beth and I knew that. We agreed to take some time, talk to people, sign up for some classes, and decide if we wanted to go ahead.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, I had begun writing a novel that grew out of my interest in housing affordability. I was fascinated and appalled by the ways local zoning laws in towns like mine help keep housing costs high. For example, lots are often required to be large, which drives up the sale price. Most neighborhoods are reserved for single-family homes, no small apartment buildings or even townhouses allowed.<\/p>\n<p>You might wonder what the \u201cfamily\u201d in a \u201csingle-family home\u201d means, exactly. In my town, it means any people related by blood, marriage, or adoption, plus no more than two others.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, \u201cfamily\u201d is defined in the zoning code.<\/p>\n<p>People will tell you the zoning laws are intended to preserve the \u201ccharacter\u201d of a place, but a lot of the reason these laws exist is that many people in affluent communities don\u2019t want less affluent people moving in. Property values, school class size, traffic, people with different cultural norms that might include louder music or more cars\u2026 Some of these concerns are talked about a lot, while others bubble noxiously beneath the surface, only occasionally voiced in angry outbursts at public meetings.<\/p>\n<p>Swarthmore is no longer a place where a writer and her college professor spouse can buy a home. The median home value here in 2000, when I moved to town, was $370,000. By 2022, it was nearly $600,000. What did this shift augur for the future of the place, I wondered? What was Swarthmore becoming, and was it the sort of place I would still want to live?<\/p>\n<p>This issue is, of course, not unique to Swarthmore. In the country as a whole during the same period, the median home price rose from about $119,600 to about $300,000, according to the U.S. Census. Even once you adjust for inflation, the jump is huge.<\/p>\n<p>But there are ways to push back against soaring housing costs, and some towns are doing just that.<\/p>\n<p>Newton, Massachusetts, for example, has legalized accessory dwelling units\u2014aka ADUs, aka granny flats, aka mother-in-law suites: small homes on the same lots as larger houses. ADUs make space for people to live in towns like mine more cheaply, and the income from renting them helps the people in the larger, primary home afford to stay. Some whole states, like Connecticut and California, have legalized ADUs in recent years! But not Swarthmore.<\/p>\n<p>My novelist mind started turning all this over. ADUs\u2026 lots of people living together in a house\u2026 surely there was a story in there somewhere?<\/p>\n<p class=\"pullquote\">I turned the final draft of my novel in to my editor in August. Celia Bookshop opened its doors in October.<\/p>\n<p>What if someone inherited a house, but she couldn\u2019t afford to live there? What if\u2026she decided to build an ADU to rent out so she <i>could<\/i> stay\u2026or invited her friends to move in with her? What if she didn\u2019t know that all these things were illegal until her neighbors got mad and tried to stop her?<\/p>\n<p>What if all this happened amidst her grief at the death of her mother, from whom she inherited the house in the first place?<\/p>\n<p>When I think about it now, it seems to me that my own growing desire to be with more people more of the time shaped the main character\u2019s strategy of inviting more and more friends into her spacious, dilapidated, turreted house. I didn\u2019t actually want to live with more people myself\u2014one spouse and one dog were plenty\u2014but I did want more interaction. I applied for a seat on and was appointed to our town\u2019s planning commission, which meant that I now had a voice and vote on zoning issues. But monthly meetings were never going to answer that need.<\/p>\n<p>But a bookstore\u2026<\/p>\n<p>As I worked on the novel, Beth and I decided to move forward with the project. She bought a building and began planning an extensive renovation. I made a giant spreadsheet and plunged into selecting our initial book inventory. We hired staff, opened publisher accounts, and learned to use the point of sale system (not easy!).<\/p>\n<p>I turned the final draft of my novel in to my editor in August. Celia Bookshop opened its doors in October.<\/p>\n<p>Now, I spend my days among my neighbors, who themselves come out of the isolation of their single-family homes not just to shop for books, but also to listen to readings, join classes, and bring their children to storytime. Celia Bookshop is a place where people go because they want to be with other people, to chat, to browse, to exchange book recommendations and ideas.<\/p>\n<p>I haven\u2019t yet heard anyone perusing the Science Fiction &amp; Fantasy section, or standing in front of History &amp; Society (where I stock a bunch of books about housing and zoning), talking about whether we should legalize ADUs, or change the number of unrelated people who can live in a house, or allow small apartment buildings among the single-family homes. But these issues are finally being considered by our local officials. I\u2019m guessing\u2014I\u2019m hoping\u2014it won\u2019t be long before I do.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"text-align: center;\">__________________________________<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"276609\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/how-opening-a-bookstore-inspired-my-new-novel-and-made-me-think-about-my-community\/were-so-lucky-to-live-here\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/were-so-lucky-to-live-here.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"360,540\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"were-so-lucky-to-live-here\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/were-so-lucky-to-live-here.jpg\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-276609 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/were-so-lucky-to-live-here-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/were-so-lucky-to-live-here-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/were-so-lucky-to-live-here-40x60.jpg 40w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/were-so-lucky-to-live-here-33x50.jpg 33w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/were-so-lucky-to-live-here.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/p\/books\/we-re-so-lucky-to-live-here-rachel-pastan\/5870b7b198400175?ean=9781953002778\">We&#8217;re So Lucky to Live Here<\/a>\u00a0<em>by Rachel Pastan is available from Delphinium Books.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The morning my life changed, I was sitting in a cafe talking to a student at a writers conference in Southampton. My phone rang, but I didn\u2019t answer it. When the student left, I saw the missed call was from<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8500,"featured_media":276613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[43105,43071,43069,6,43103,43092],"tags":[18997,1149,49573,11979,7820,70813,112155,1341],"class_list":["post-276608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookstores-and-libraries","category-craft-and-advice","category-craftandcriticism","category-features","category-memoir","category-newsandculture","tag-bookselling","tag-craft","tag-delphinium-books","tag-independent-bookstores","tag-process","tag-rachel-pastan","tag-were-so-lucky-to-live-here","tag-writing"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5rKFr-19Xq","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bookstore.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8500"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":276642,"date":"2026-09-14T05:08:41","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T09:08:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/?p=276642"},"modified":"2026-09-15T13:49:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T17:49:48","slug":"rabih-alameddine-on-writing-humor-in-times-of-tumult-and-tragedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/rabih-alameddine-on-writing-humor-in-times-of-tumult-and-tragedy\/","title":{"rendered":"Rabih Alameddine on Writing Humor In Times of Tumult and Tragedy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Rabih Alameddine<\/strong>, award-winning author of <a href=\"https:\/\/bookstore.centerforfiction.org\/item\/wLu_br6H3tV6NlEL0G3qQA\"><i>The Wrong End of the Telescope<\/i><\/a>, celebrated the release of his novel, <a href=\"https:\/\/bookstore.centerforfiction.org\/item\/wLu_br6H3tWJds-HHOgq6w\"><i>The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)<\/i><\/a> at The Center for Fiction, which won the National Book Award.<\/p>\n<p>Wildly original and wickedly funny, Alameddine&#8217;s latest explores the profound bond between a mother and son across decades. Set in Lebanon, the story is told in the unforgettable voice of Raja, a beloved philosophy teacher and &#8220;the neighborhood homosexual.&#8221; When Raja embarks on a writing residency in America, he gains long-sought distance from both personal and national turmoil. But his journey soon compels him to confront the past, weaving a powerful narrative of memory, identity, and resilience.<\/p>\n<p>Author and editor <strong>John Freeman<\/strong>, who co-edited the forthcoming <a href=\"https:\/\/bookstore.centerforfiction.org\/item\/p5lAnqxqGBSP57GPy8g1ew\"><i>Penguin Book of the International Short Story<\/i><\/a> with Alameddine, joined Alameddine for a compelling discussion of this tragicomic love story.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ekltPtsy5z0?si=JmNABinQ7Z-utCB3\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>From the conversation:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>John Freeman:<\/strong> Well, one of my favorite lines in the book is, after Raja emerges from this experience, which I don&#8217;t want to say more about, just, please read the book and get to this section, because it will really blow your mind. He\u2019s asked to interpret it, and he says that what was traumatic was returning to this reality, and not what happened to him there. And I feel like that can apply to so many sections of his life. But also, I feel like it applies so much to the tornadic reality we live in right now. Or you might be in some difficult circumstance, but returning to what is presumed to be normal is almost worse. Have you experienced that in the last couple of years?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rabih Alameddine:<\/strong> Yeah. I mean, we go back to how it&#8217;s the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, about what&#8217;s happening. But the world is in horrible shape. I don&#8217;t have to tell you people that it&#8217;s horrid. So how do we survive this? How do we live in a world where we&#8217;re committing genocide and some people are still cheering that? How do we live in a world where people are disappearing off the streets, where we have Gestapo with masks on, picking people off the street? If I go out now, somebody could come in a van and pick me up off the street and send me to El Salvador before I could do anything. I&#8217;m terrified of that. And I lived through that for a long time. I came over here thinking it could never happen, but it happens now.<\/p>\n<p class=\"pullquote\">If this is all going on, how do we survive? What kind of stories do we tell ourselves to go through this?<\/p>\n<p>So here&#8217;s the thing. If this is all going on, how do we survive? What kind of stories do we tell ourselves to go through this? It has been my experience. And please, you can correct me if I&#8217;m wrong, that most people I talk to think that it will not happen to them. That&#8217;s how we survive that. Oh, they&#8217;re picking up people who look Latino, so I as a white person will not have to go through that. They might not say that openly, but most of us believe it, that it can&#8217;t happen to us because I was born in this country. It can&#8217;t happen to us because of many, many things. I don&#8217;t have to tell you, but I am going to tell you that it can happen. It starts with what they call aliens or whatever. But once you allow that, once you allow the army onto the streets, it&#8217;s a downward spiral.<\/p>\n<p>So what stories do we tell ourselves? Raja, who in my mind, as fucked up as he is, is less fucked up than I am. You know, he\u2019s someone I would like to be, he is actually able to compartmentalize and tell different stories about this. Right now I\u2019m having a lot of trouble telling myself that everything will be okay. I&#8217;m having enough trouble that I&#8217;m not sure what the point of doing something like this is, or what the point of writing is. But it&#8217;s a big issue.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"276675\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/rabih-alameddine-on-writing-humor-in-times-of-tumult-and-tragedy\/copy-of-dsc_7443\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Copy-of-DSC_7443-scaled.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1709\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Copy of DSC_7443\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Copy-of-DSC_7443-1240x828.jpg\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-276675 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Copy-of-DSC_7443-1240x828.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1240\" height=\"828\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Copy-of-DSC_7443-1240x828.jpg 1240w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Copy-of-DSC_7443-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Copy-of-DSC_7443-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Copy-of-DSC_7443-60x40.jpg 60w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Copy-of-DSC_7443-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Copy-of-DSC_7443-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Copy-of-DSC_7443-50x33.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1240px) 100vw, 1240px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>How do we go from knowing what&#8217;s happening in the world and looking at it and seeing it and not lie to ourselves about what&#8217;s going on, that yes, we are committing a genocide. It&#8217;s not happening over there. We are committing it. How do we do that? How do\u2014I don&#8217;t know about you\u2014how do I live with myself knowing that I&#8217;m doing that? And that&#8217;s a difficult thing. But the book is funny.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JF:<\/strong> Well, it is also full of moments of tenderness. It never doesn&#8217;t look directly at the situation in which Raja and his mother and his Aunt Yasmine and everyone else in the book are in. But another favorite line is, \u201cthe women talked and talked, stroking each other with words.\u201d And even as Raja is being driven to what will happen to him and take him away, which will be the kind of core experience of the book that we alluded to in that longer bit of conversation. He&#8217;s totally stoned driving in the back of an orange BMW 2002, and the night air is blowing on his face in the most delicious way. And I feel like you, in writing those moments, have sort of retrieved reality from the idea that it&#8217;s totalized by terrible things, that you can have a terrible thing right next to a nice thing. And the nice thing isn&#8217;t invalidated by the terrible thing, especially if it has to do with acts of care between loved ones, family, students, and their teacher, and\u2014<\/p>\n<p class=\"pullquote\">I live with this because I am lucky enough that I can read a wonderful book and be inspired.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RA:<\/strong> Or inspiration. Again, it\u2019s one of the things I mean when I say, how do I live with this? I live with this because I am lucky enough that I can read a wonderful book and be inspired. I&#8217;m lucky enough that I can listen to Beethoven&#8217;s 15th Sonata and just burst into tears. That lifts me. Raja is similar. He finds his enjoyment somewhere. The world is really horrific and we should be able to look at it squarely. But I work because I can still find some inspiration from beauty, from real beauty in this world. And some of the beauty is actually people. Though I really hate people, so it&#8217;s difficult for me to admit that. But yes, how we treat each other, then the amazing things we do to each other, is just wonderful. And it continues to inspire me.<\/p>\n<p>*<\/p>\n<p><strong>Rabih Alameddine<\/strong> is the author of seven novels including <a href=\"https:\/\/bookstore.centerforfiction.org\/item\/wLu_br6H3tV6NlEL0G3qQA\"><i>The Wrong End of the Telescope<\/i><\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/bookstore.centerforfiction.org\/item\/wLu_br6H3tVmgEobmC9aDg\"><i>Angel of History<\/i><\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/bookstore.centerforfiction.org\/item\/wLu_br6H3tVztpvyha3-kg\"><i>An Unnecessary Woman<\/i><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/bookstore.centerforfiction.org\/item\/wLu_br6H3tVWMA7-ffJntA\"><i>Koolaids<\/i><\/a>; the story collection, <i>The Perv<\/i>; and one work of nonfiction, <a href=\"https:\/\/bookstore.centerforfiction.org\/item\/kdYyt0-v9P8zk5ejQwbEjQ\"><i>Comforting Myths<\/i><\/a>. He has won the PEN\/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the National Book Award. He received the Dos Passos Prize in 2019, a Lannan Award in 2021, and the Bill Whitehead Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025.\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.rabihalameddine.com\/\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=http:\/\/www.rabihalameddine.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1789580578878000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3vi3M7m87ofL3CnVReH1Hq\">rabihalameddine.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>John Freeman<\/strong> is co-editor (with Rabih Alameddine) of the forthcoming <a href=\"https:\/\/bookstore.centerforfiction.org\/item\/p5lAnqxqGBSP57GPy8g1ew\"><i>Penguin Book of the International Short Story<\/i><\/a>, and the author and editor of another dozen books including <a href=\"https:\/\/bookstore.centerforfiction.org\/item\/Q7YcqID2tmmSr95CskeuFg\"><i>California Rewritten<\/i><\/a>, his new book of essays. An executive editor at Alfred A. Knopf, he hosts Alta&#8217;s California Book Club once a month over zoom.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">______________________________<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"276785\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/rabih-alameddine-on-writing-humor-in-times-of-tumult-and-tragedy\/cff-logo-black\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/cff-logo.black_.png\" data-orig-size=\"1600,1280\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"center for fiction\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/cff-logo.black_-1240x992.png\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-276785\" src=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/cff-logo.black_-300x240.png\" alt=\"center for fiction\" width=\"300\" height=\"240\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/cff-logo.black_-300x240.png 300w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/cff-logo.black_-1240x992.png 1240w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/cff-logo.black_-768x614.png 768w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/cff-logo.black_-60x48.png 60w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/cff-logo.black_-1536x1229.png 1536w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/cff-logo.black_-50x40.png 50w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/cff-logo.black_.png 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>The Center for Fiction<\/strong>\u00a0is a literary nonprofit based in Downtown Brooklyn. Our mission is to support readers and writers of all ages and histories, and to build community through fiction. We offer a wide range of programming for local and national audiences, including\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/centerforfiction.org\/events\/\">Events<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/centerforfiction.org\/reading-groups\/\">Reading Groups<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/centerforfiction.org\/writing-workshops\/\">Writing Workshops<\/a>. Our home in Brooklyn features a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/centerforfiction.org\/visit\/bookstore\/\">Bookstore<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/centerforfiction.org\/visit\/cafe-bar\/\">Caf\u00e9 &amp; Bar<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/centerforfiction.org\/the-center\/library\/\">Library<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/centerforfiction.org\/join-give\/the-writers-studio\/\">Writers Studio<\/a>. Members of The Center for Fiction enjoy invitations, discounts, access to our Library collection, and more.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/centerforfiction.org\/shop\/general-membership\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/centerforfiction.org\/shop\/general-membership\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1788990061316000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2w7NQbS-aVS6l6apbwJXSq\">Join<\/a>\u00a0today.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rabih Alameddine, award-winning author of The Wrong End of the Telescope, celebrated the release of his novel, The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) at The Center for Fiction, which won the National Book Award. Wildly<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31945,"featured_media":276674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[43069,6,43257,43072],"tags":[50,270,10023,17224,105004],"class_list":["post-276642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-craftandcriticism","category-features","category-humor","category-in-conversation","tag-interviews-2","tag-john-freeman","tag-rabih-alameddine","tag-the-center-for-fiction","tag-the-true-true-story-of-raja-the-gullible-and-his-mother","story-type-in-conversation"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5rKFr-19XY","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Alameddine-Rabih-credit-Oliver-Wasow-lores-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31945"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":276639,"date":"2026-09-14T05:07:28","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T09:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/?p=276639"},"modified":"2026-09-07T21:19:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T01:19:52","slug":"how-raising-a-multilingual-tot-helped-me-write-a-multicultural-novel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/how-raising-a-multilingual-tot-helped-me-write-a-multicultural-novel\/","title":{"rendered":"How Raising a Multilingual Tot Helped Me Write a Multicultural Novel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When he was three, my son often said his heart was wounded.<\/p>\n<p>The reasons for these heart wounds were varied: someone didn\u2019t want to be his best friend; I accidentally swept his latest artistic masterpiece into the recycling bin; we ran out of bananas.<\/p>\n<p>The first time he told me this, I had to restrain myself from laughing. From his three-year-old perspective, these were legitimately momentous events. But even without the context of age, he wasn\u2019t being melodramatic. He was translating\u2014literally. In Mandarin, the language in which we converse with each other, the word \u201csad\u201d is created by putting the characters for wound (\u4f24) and heart (\u5fc3) together.<\/p>\n<p>Before I had my son, I never thought much about the first language I learned to speak. I was born and raised in Cincinnati, and by the time I was in elementary school, English wasn\u2019t just my go-to language but the language through which I fell in love with the written word. But when my son was born, I knew I wanted to raise him bilingual. Partly, I thought speaking Mandarin would be an advantage in the future. Mostly, I felt that if he <i>didn\u2019t<\/i> grow up speaking Mandarin, he would miss out on a critical connection to his heritage. I couldn\u2019t explain why I felt this way. My parents and all of my living extended family speak English fluently. I think in English, write in English, and speak to almost everyone in my life in English.<\/p>\n<p class=\"pullquote\">I didn\u2019t want to lose the poeticism of direct translation, yet I also wanted to ensure meanings weren\u2019t lost or misconstrued. I wanted neither to perpetuate stereotypes, nor to erase cultural truths.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, I hadn\u2019t spoken Mandarin regularly since I was in high school. I was rusty! Every time I spoke to my son, I had to translate my English thoughts into Mandarin words. I had to translate when I read to him, too. It\u2019s hard to find children\u2019s books with <i>pinyin<\/i>\u2014the Romanized transliteration of Mandarin\u2014which I needed, because my Chinese literacy is on par with that of a second-grader.<\/p>\n<p>Suddenly, I found myself translating all the time, and thinking about the complexity of translation, especially between two languages that were so fundamentally different not just in mechanics but in spirit. English, which could create endless configurations of letters, proliferated with synonyms that allowed for an abundance of nuance: sad, downcast, unhappy, miserable, melancholy, sorrowful, depressed. In contrast, Chinese, which combined Hanzi characters with existing meanings to create new words, seemed at once spare and poetically conceptual. I could say my heart was wounded (\u4f24\u5fc3), or that I was experiencing a difficult pass (\u96be \u8fc7).<\/p>\n<p>At the same time that I was translating<i> Frog and Toad <\/i>and <i>Olivia <\/i>for my toddler, I was writing <a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780063467736\"><i>The Chinese Lady<\/i><\/a>, a historical novel told from the perspectives of four characters who think and communicate in English, Cantonese, or both\u2014though I wrote almost all their internal and spoken words in English. When I had first started writing the novel a couple years before, I had randomly sprinkled passages with <i>pinyin<\/i> to flex my cultural bona fides. (It was a faulty flex, because my characters would have spoken Cantonese, and Mandarin is a different language!) But with bilingualism now constantly on my brain, I began to reexamine how and when to include Chinese in the novel, and why.<\/p>\n<p>It didn\u2019t make sense to transliterate into Chinese when I could easily translate into English. For example, instead of referring to one protagonist as \u73cd\u73e0, I called her Pearl. But sometimes, the translation wasn\u2019t so straightforward. Sometimes, words were complicated by the context in which they would be read. As much as I like to think that I write to satisfy my own craft, I also write for a majority English-speaking, American audience.<\/p>\n<p>When I was in college, I wrote a short story about a Chinese mother and daughter for a creative writing class. Whenever her daughter disobeyed her, the mother character would demand: \u201cDon\u2019t you know I cut back on eating so you can have everything?\u201d Or, she would declare: \u201cI\u2019ll beat you to death and then give birth to another!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There was a lot to criticize about my eighteen-year-old scribblings, but my classmates\u2019 criticisms of how I characterized the mother character stuck with me: she was too melodramatic; I was caricaturizing bipolarism; I was writing with flippancy about an abusive relationship. In retrospect, I had given my character the words of my own mother whenever <i>I <\/i>fell short of being a dutiful daughter. My mother didn\u2019t really cut back on eating (\u7701\u5403), and I never once feared she would beat me to death (\u6253\u6b7b) and then birth my successor (\u518d\u751f\u4e00\u4e2a). We both knew what she meant: she scrimped and saved on my behalf, and it was my duty as her offspring to make her sacrifices worthwhile. We also understood that her sacrifices and my duty were part of a long family tradition.<\/p>\n<p>I worried that by translating my mother\u2019s speech literally, I <i>had<\/i> made my character into a caricature\u2014albeit of an immigrant martyr mother rather than of a person with bipolar disorder. And yet, if I\u2019d had the character demand: \u201cDon\u2019t you know how I scrimp and save? It is your responsibility to make my sacrifices worthwhile!\u201d something intangible and true would have been lost.<\/p>\n<p class=\"pullquote\">Learning Mandarin\u2014or any language\u2014isn\u2019t just about learning vocabulary, grammar, and syntax. It\u2019s about learning a different way of thinking and knowing.<\/p>\n<p>I thought a lot about that story as I watched my toddler make sense of the world using his two languages. I thought about it while I wrote, after he had gone to bed. In writing my Chinese characters in <i>The Chinese Lady<\/i>, I had to decide when to translate words and when to translate meaning. I didn\u2019t want to lose the poeticism of direct translation, yet I also wanted to ensure meanings weren\u2019t lost or misconstrued. I wanted neither to perpetuate stereotypes, nor to erase cultural truths.<\/p>\n<p>For example, the literal translation of \u59b9\u4ed4 is \u201ca young girl.\u201d Yet the <i>meaning<\/i> of this word in Chinese is \u201clittle slave girl,\u201d referring to little girls who were sold into service. Yet again, the word \u201cslave\u201d holds a whole different meaning in the United States. The situation of two characters in the novel to whom that word might be ascribed\u2014a Cantonese child and a formerly enslaved Black woman\u2014were not the same. So, instead of translating or transliterating, I used the Hanzi \u59b9\u4ed4.<\/p>\n<p>Another example. Part of the novel takes place in San Francisco\u2019s Chinatown, when Chinese immigrant associations called \u5802s were increasing in power and influence. The literal translation of \u5802 is \u201chall,\u201d probably referring to the associations\u2019 physical gathering spaces. As these associations expanded their endeavors into gambling, prostitution, and vigilante justice, English-speaking Americans began to describe the <i>tongs<\/i> as Chinese gangs. I was unconvinced that my Chinese characters would have described them as such. Ultimately, my white characters use the transliterated <i>tong<\/i> and translation \u201cgang,\u201d while my Chinese characters use the Hanzi \u5802.<\/p>\n<p>In writing <i>The Chinese Lady<\/i>, I realized why I had been so doggedly stumbling through raising a bilingual toddler, why I\u2019d instinctively felt it was so crucial to his heritage. Learning Mandarin\u2014or any language\u2014isn\u2019t just about learning vocabulary, grammar, and syntax. It\u2019s about learning a different way of thinking and knowing. Just as I wanted my son to understand the possibility of an alphabet-based language that borrows freely from other languages, I also wanted him to experience the creativity of a language that must create new meaning from old things.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">_______________________________<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"276640\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/how-raising-a-multilingual-tot-helped-me-write-a-multicultural-novel\/the-chinese-lady\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/the-chinese-lady.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"600,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"the chinese lady\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/the-chinese-lady.jpg\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-276640\" src=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/the-chinese-lady-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/the-chinese-lady-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/the-chinese-lady-40x60.jpg 40w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/the-chinese-lady-33x50.jpg 33w, https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/the-chinese-lady.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/132\/9780063467736\">The Chinese Lady<\/a> <em>by Bo Wang is available from HarperVia, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When he was three, my son often said his heart was wounded. The reasons for these heart wounds were varied: someone didn\u2019t want to be his best friend; I accidentally swept his latest artistic masterpiece into the recycling bin; we<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31944,"featured_media":276681,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[43071,43069,6,43103],"tags":[48237,112163,47513,23613,56926,49085,4061,9424,13975,112162],"class_list":["post-276639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-craft-and-advice","category-craftandcriticism","category-features","category-memoir","tag-bilingualism","tag-bo-wang","tag-craft-advice","tag-fiction-writing","tag-harpercollins-publishers","tag-harpervia","tag-language","tag-novel-writing","tag-parenting","tag-the-chinese-lady","story-type-language"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5rKFr-19XV","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/chinese-hanzi-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31944"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":276967,"date":"2026-09-12T06:30:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T10:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/?p=276967"},"modified":"2026-09-11T12:37:04","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T16:37:04","slug":"lit-hub-weekly-september-7-11-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/lit-hub-weekly-september-7-11-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Lit Hub Weekly: September 7 &#8211; 11, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"caption\"> TODAY: In 1846, Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning elope. <\/span>\n<ul>\n<li>A new season means new books. Here are<a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/34-books-you-need-to-read-this-fall\/\"> 34 titles you need to read this fall<\/a>. | Lit Hub<a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/category\/readinglists\/\"> Reading Lists<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/emily-wilson-talks-complicated-men-celebrating-strangeness-and-why-there-is-always-another-way-to-say-it\/\">Emily Wilson talks to Leanne Ogasawara<\/a> about \u201cthe high stakes and complexities of translation,\u201d complicated men, and her essay collection, <i>Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea<\/i>. | Lit Hub<a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/category\/craftandcriticism\/on-translation\/\"> On Translation<\/a><\/li>\n<li>\u201cLanguage is something that is practiced and learned and something that you can be awful at, and also something that you can get better at. But the only way that you get better is by making mistakes.\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/learning-from-shame-r-f-kuang-on-diaspora-language-and-writing-young-protagonists\/\"> R.F. Kuang talks to Adam Dalva.<\/a> | Lit Hub<a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/category\/craftandcriticism\/in-conversation\/\"> In Conversation<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Alexander Lee examines<a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/what-the-ghetto-of-venice-reveals-about-jewish-history-and-identity-in-europe\"> Jewish history and identity in Europe via the ghetto of Venice<\/a>, from his Cundill Prize-shortlisted <i>The First Ghetto<\/i>. | Lit Hub<a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/category\/newsandculture\/history\/\"> History<\/a><\/li>\n<li>When does the world need your words, and when does it need your action? Should you go to that organizing meeting or meet your deadline? Steinem lived these tensions, wrestling with them and, sometimes, writing about them.\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/newrepublic.com\/article\/215082\/gloria-steinem-life-art-activism\"> Maggie Doherty on Gloria Steinem\u2019s life in writing and activism<\/a>. | The New Republic<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/culture\/2026\/09\/mrbeast-youtube-james-patterson-book-games.html\">What does a MrBeast\/James Patterson collaboration look like<\/a>? Strange, and bad, but nevertheless: a book! | Slate<\/li>\n<li>Is the internet really killing literature, or has it expanded it? Aarthi Vadde explores<a href=\"https:\/\/lareviewofbooks.org\/article\/we-the-platform-artificial-intelligence-aarthi-vadde-internet\/\"> the potential of the literary web.<\/a> | Los Angeles Review of Books<\/li>\n<li>D\u00f3nal Gill wonders: could<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedial.world\/articles\/news\/schools-teachers-artificial-intelligence\"> Jonathan Swift be the antidote to generative AI<\/a>? | The Dial<\/li>\n<li>\u201c<i>Moby-Dick<\/i>, from the moment the pale Usher pops up, frames itself with\u2014or, indeed, as\u2014a parable of document supply, of transformation of the natural world\u2019s bounty into quartos, folios, lexicons, and, of course, novels.\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/yalereview.org\/article\/tom-mccarthy-indefinite-sublime\"> Tom McCarthy on Melville and the white page<\/a>. | The Yale Review<\/li>\n<li>Anthropic actually wants to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/culture\/the-lede\/destroying-books-to-build-a-mind\"> \u201cdestructively scan\u201d as many books as possible<\/a>, it turns out. | The New Yorker<\/li>\n<li>\u201cGenocide is not just the destruction of a people, it is also the obliteration of that people\u2019s store of memories and, with it, the destruction of their ability to see themselves historically.\u201d<a href=\"https:\/\/www.equator.org\/articles\/dusklands-coetzee\"> J.M. Coetzee and F.M. Siccardi reflect on growing up in the shadow of colonial genocide, in South Africa and Argentina, respectively<\/a>. | Equator<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/yalereview.org\/article\/lucy-sante-famous-writers-school\">Lucy Sante\u2019s encounters with famous writers<\/a>, from the \u201chighly esteemed but not famous Joe Sacco discusses<a href=\"https:\/\/jacobin.com\/2026\/09\/sacco-hedges-comics-journalism-gaza-genocide\"> Gaza, comics journalism, and hanging out with ordinary people<\/a>. | Jacobin<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/daily.jstor.org\/whats-queer-about-the-legend-of-zelda\/\">Is <i>The Legend of Zelda <\/i>queer-coded?<\/a> It\u2019s not <i>not <\/i>queer-coded. | JSTOR Daily<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.poetryfoundation.org\/articles\/1825943\/alive-at-the-end\">Federico Perelmuter considers Carolyn Forch\u00e9<\/a> and the future of poetry of witness in a world increasingly \u201crazed into horror and multifarious catastrophe.\u201d | Poetry<\/li>\n<li>Daniel Lukes explores<a href=\"https:\/\/lareviewofbooks.org\/article\/shintaro-kago-brain-damage-manga-erotic-grotesque-nonsense\/\"> manga, misogyny, and the erotic grotesque<\/a> via Shintaro Kago\u2019s <i>Brain Damage<\/i>. | Los Angeles Review of Books<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Also on Lit Hub:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/heres-the-cover-for-american-occupation-a-powerful-document-of-minnesotas-resistance-to-ice\/\">Check out the cover for <i>American Occupation<\/i><\/a>, a forthcoming document of Minnesota\u2019s resistance to ICE \u2022 The hazards of<a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/how-and-why-we-find-ourselves-trapped-by-our-jobs\/\"> over-identifying with your job<\/a> \u2022 This week in literary history, <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/this-week-in-literary-history-william-s-burroughs-kills-joan-vollmer-in-a-drunken-game-of-william-tell\">William S. Burroughs kills Joan Vollmer in a drunken party game<\/a> \u2022 Wiemar Germany\u2019s theater and <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/what-weimar-berlins-most-famous-plays-revealed-about-artistic-freedom\/\">artistic expression in the shadow of fascism<\/a> \u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/get-out-advice-on-teaching-high-school-from-the-late-great-frank-mccourt\/\">Advice on teaching high school<\/a> from Frank McCourt \u2022 The legal history of<a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/a-legal-history-of-anti-chinese-racism-in-america\/\"> anti-Chinese racism in America<\/a> \u2022 The winners of<a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/read-the-winners-of-american-short-fictions-2026-insider-prize\/\"> <i>American Short Fiction<\/i>\u2019s 2026 Insider Prize<\/a> \u2022 On struggling to <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/the-literary-agent-who-lost-the-narrative-thread\/\">write your own grief<\/a> \u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/what-peatlands-can-teach-us-about-time\/\">What peatlands tell us<\/a> about time \u2022 Stef Ferrari recommends <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/nine-novels-that-make-an-art-of-earnestness\/\">incredibly earnest novels<\/a> \u2022 If your partner hates reading, <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/my-partner-refuses-to-read-or-even-talk-about-books-should-we-break-up\/\">should you dump them?<\/a> \u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/neither-bone-nor-stone-why-the-us-constitution-was-meant-to-be-amended\/\">Why the US constitution<\/a> was designed to be amended \u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/bookmarks.reviews\/5-reviews-you-need-to-read-this-week-9-10-2026\/\">5 book reviews<\/a> you need to read this week \u2022 This week\u2019s Independent Press Top 40 Bestsellers for<a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/the-independent-press-top-40-bestsellers-fiction-34\"> fiction<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/the-independent-press-top-40-bestsellers-nonfiction-34\"> nonfiction<\/a> \u2022 How observation deepened the relationship<a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/how-i-learned-to-love-my-dog-by-observing-his-behavior\/\"> between Anna Heyward and her dog<\/a> \u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/beauty-in-ambiguity-on-marian-andersons-lifelong-love-for-schubert\/\">Why Marian Anderson<\/a> loved Schubert \u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/harlan-coben-answers-the-age-old-question-where-do-you-get-your-ideas\">Where does Harlan Coben<\/a> get ideas? \u2022 The lore and legacy of <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/the-legend-of-the-legend-of-sleepy-hollow\/\">\u201cThe Legend of Sleepy Hollow\u201d<\/a> \u2022 <i>No God But Us<\/i>, <i>The Sense of Brown, <\/i>and <a href=\"http:\/\/lithub.com\/the-war-on-terror-through-the-eyes-of-queer-afghan-refugees\">the aftermath of 9\/11<\/a> \u2022 On the demonization of <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/on-the-existential-threat-of-palestinian-kites-to-colonial-power\/\">Palestinian kites<\/a> \u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/on-the-forgotten-enslavement-of-native-americans-and-its-central-role-in-u-s-history\/\">The forgotten enslavement of <\/a>Native Americans in the United States \u2022 The <a href=\"https:\/\/bookmarks.reviews\/the-best-reviewed-books-of-the-week-48\/\">best reviewed books<\/a> of the week \u2022 Autofiction, shame-based writing, <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/tom-cole-on-autofiction-shame-based-writing-and-being-an-unreliable-narrator\/\">and being an unreliable narrator<\/a> \u2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/lithub.com\/late-summer-in-the-anthropocene-a-poem-by-marcus-wicker\/\">Read \u201cLate Summer in the Anthropocene,\u201d<\/a> a poem by Marcus Wicker<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new season means new books. Here are 34 titles you need to read this fall. | Lit Hub Reading Lists Emily Wilson talks to Leanne Ogasawara about \u201cthe high stakes and complexities of translation,\u201d complicated men, and her essay<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":276970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[45236],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-276967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lit-hub-daily"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5rKFr-1a3d","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/elizabethrobertbrowning-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lithub.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}]