TODAY: In 1533, Michel de Montaigne, known for popularizing the essay as a literary genre, is born.
- “Failing at my novel was like getting my heart broken.” Aaron Shulman on realizing the thing he wanted most maybe wasn’t for him. | Lit Hub
- “We created the Machine, to do our will, but we cannot make it do our will now”: eight Gilded Age stories that predicted the future. | Lit Hub
- Our favorite book covers of February, brought to you by the color yellow. | Lit Hub
- “Immigrant literature is a redundant category.” On the overdue evolution of immigrant narratives. | Lit Hub
- Marlon James’ Black Leopard, Red Wolf: Colonial-era catalogue of clichés OR Márquez-esque marvel of inventiveness. | Book Marks
- James McBride’s ode to Toni Morrison, Roddy Doyle on memories of the Troubles, and more of the Book Reviews You Need to Read This Week. | Book Marks
- “She is the one who must capture every word with her flying fingers, wearing the pads down to smudges.” Melissa Scrivner Love on learning to write from her court reporter mother. | CrimeReads
- Skyhorse, an independent publisher, is prepared to release a book version of the Mueller report within weeks of its publication (that is, if it ever goes public). | Publishers Weekly
- “She had the oddest sense of being herself invisible, unseen; unknown.” On Mrs. Dalloway and the invisibility of older women. | The Atlantic
- Meet Janet Mills, Maine’s poet-governor. | Down East
- Was your favorite audiobook of 2018 nominated for one of this year’s Audie Awards? Recordings of Barracoon, Educated and An American Marriage are among the finalists.| The Booklist Reade
- How to map a myth, or “where is Ithaca, anyway?” On the geography of The Odyssey. | Lapham’s Quarterly
- “In print and in private, [Auden] seems never to have condemned other writers’ work on the basis of their personal faults.” When Auden defended Pound from no-platforming (on principle). | NYRB
- If you’re still holding on to the idea of Jane Eyre as touchstone of romance…it might be time to let go. | JSTOR
Also on Lit Hub: Otherppl, Sarah McColl talks to Brad Listi about grief and clarity • On decolonizing the postcolonial African classroom • The Lit Hub staff’s favorite stories of the month • Read from Binstead’s Safari
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