Lit Hub Daily: August 30, 2019

• In praise of the sentence, “the ur-unit, the granular element that must be got right or nothing will be right.” | Lit Hub
• “Brains reflect the lives they have lived.” On the amazing plasticity of the human brain. | Lit Hub
• On the challenges of designing your grandfather’s book (when your grandfather is James Thurber). | Lit Hub
• “I see the scene again and again, always trying to grasp the unfathomable moment in which she vanished. . .” Laura Cumming on her mother’s kidnapping as a child. | Lit Hub
• “There was something about you I don’t have words for.” Naja Marie Aidt on time, grief, and her late son, Carl Emil. | Lit Hub
• 31 books of poetry in 31 days: on the Sealey Challenge. | Lit Hub
• Where the amateur reader ends, and the professional critic begins: Tom Lutz on where the love of books can lead. | Lit Hub
• Headed to the Big Easy for Labor Day? Here’s how to spend a literary long weekend in New Orleans. | Lit Hub
• A collection of short stories from Edwidge Danticat, a new satirical novel from Nell Zink, and an examination of evil all feature among the Best Reviewed Books of the Week. | Book Marks
• Halley Sutton recommends five series to help you process all your feelings about Veronica Mars: Season 4 (warning: spoilers ahead!). | CrimeReads
• “Glamour and heartbreak have one thing in common: they both wear off faster than you’d think.” Jennifer Croft bids goodbye to summer. | The Paris Review
• Are books . . . the new hottest celebrity accessory? Please say yes. | The Cut
• “Audience laughter. Freeze frame. Theme song plays. Roll credits.” On the (often sexy!) afterlife of Seinfeld in fanfiction. | Mel Magazine
• Read an interview with the filmmaker behind The Miracle of The Little Prince, a documentary about Antoine De Saint-Exupéry’s strange and wonderful book (which has been translated into 375 languages). | Words Without Borders
• “What will it mean if I have nipples? What will it mean if I don’t have nipples?” Kristen Radtke on female shame and the graphic novelist. | The Guardian
• Readers will return to Gilead next month with the release of Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments. Here’s what you should read and watch in the meantime. | The New York Times
• The Great American Road Trip novel shouldn’t just be a Beat Generation romp. What diverse paths should the genre go down next? | Citylab

Also on Lit Hub: On Fiction/Non/Fiction, Jess Row and Timothy Yu on learning from writers who write about race • Lit Hub staff picks: our favorite stories this month • The Astrology Book Club: What to read this month, based on your sign • Read an excerpt from Dag Solstad’s novel Professor Andersen’s Night (trans. Agnes Scott Langeland).