TODAY: In 1998, Anne Desclos, French journalist and novelist, who published the erotic novel Story of O under the pen name Pauline Réage, dies.
- History lost: on the last days of James Baldwin’s house in the south of France. | Lit Hub
- On the eve of Independent Bookstore Day, Celeste Ng on why we need to support local bookstores, along with an exclusive from this year’s IBD flash fiction collection. | Lit Hub
- When the horrors of the page hit the big screen: on the irresistible metaphor of Jekyll and Hyde, and why Frankenstein* will never die. (*Yes, yes, Frankenstein’s monster.) | Lit Hub
- Rachel Kushner, Alexander Chee, and more: The 10 best-reviewed books of the week. | Book Marks
- Three Chesterfield cigarette packets and the remains of a letter: What John Copenhaver found under the floorboards, and how it helped him finish his mystery novel. | CrimeReads
- “Her claustrophobia isn’t only about crowds; it’s also about commitments.” Emily Gould profiles Liz Phair. | The Cut
- “Julia’s country childhood gave her two things: an affinity for Communism and a connection to Nature.” Molly Crabapple on Puerto Rico’s “most famous poet,” Julia de Burgos. | NYRB
- That was the first moment of the impossible: Read “Second Person,” a collaboration between novelist Eugene Lim and artist Shannon Steneck. | 7×7
- Kate Bush is coming home to wuthering, wuthering, Wuthering Heights… with a tribute to Emily Brontë engraved in stone and placed near Brontë’s home in the Yorkshire Moors. | Pitchfork
- Even the dead-simplest of posi content attracts an audience: Tony Tulathimutte on YouTube affirmation videos. | Real Life
- Pour yourself that drink and put your feet up: The Goodman Theater’s five-and-a-half-hour stage adaptation of 2666 is now available to stream (for free!) online. | The New York Times
- Welcome to your dystopian future, in which Fox is adapting classic Choose Your Own Adventure books for the big screen. Brave audiences will vote on plot points throughout . . . with their phones. | Variety
Also on Literary Hub: If you love Ru Paul’s Drag Race… You need to read these books · What we loved this week: The Lit Hub staff on everything from Helen DeWitt to bad hockey · Read from Christina Hesselholdt’s novel, Companions
