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TODAY: In 1881, Leo Tolstoy sets off on a pilgrimage to a monastery disguised as a peasant.
- “Perhaps our story as a species is almost done and all that remains is an unwanted intimacy with grief.” Barbara Hurd on the lessons of Robert Macfarlane’s Underland. | Lit Hub
- The American myths of westward expansion that just won’t die: Lauren Markham on two very different stories of Manifest Destiny. | Lit Hub
- [Eighteen century] stars: they’re just like us! Sharon Marcus on the early origins of celebrity worship. | Lit Hub
- When booksellers write about bookselling: Andrea Lawlor recommends some essential bookstore reads. | Lit Hub
- In another edition of the Disappearing Archives, Harmony Holiday breaks down a rare recording of Sun Ra and Henry Dumas in conversation. | Lit Hub
- A first look at Freeman’s California Issue: John Freeman and Michael Salu on visions of the Golden State. | Lit Hub
- The long and contentious history of federal food crimes began with margarine. Mike Chase investigates the war on pseudo-dairy at the turn of the century. | CrimeReads
- This week in Shhh…Secrets of the Librarians: twist endings, librarian stereotypes, and Nora Roberts books as projectiles. | Book Marks
- “I know it was a little insouciant to be like, I dare you! I dare you to call this chick lit! But whatever. Call it whatever you’re going to call it. Just read it. Or don’t.” Elizabeth Gilbert on City of Girls, desire, strong female characters, and writing from scars. | BuzzFeed News
- Fried okra, couscous royale, “Catfish / The Way Albert Liked It”: cooking with Ntozake Shange. | The Paris Review
- AMC has acquired the rights to adapt Mona Awad’s Bunny, which comes out tomorrow, for television. | Deadline
- A comic ode to Franz Kafka’s comic side. | The New York Times
- “This is the allure of the axe: It is a simple, efficient tool charged with power and violence.” Jonny Diamond on axe throwing, gender, and more. | Longreads
- Perhaps you’d like to listen to some conversational Old English? | Open Culture
- “We can honor Orwell’s death by refusing to cede the digital future.” “Surveillance capitalism” isn’t what George Orwell imagined. | Time
Also on Lit Hub: Eduardo Strauch on the immediate aftermath of a plane crash • Michel Leiris on the small artistic details that captivate our senses • Read from Matteo Righetto’s latest novel The Soul of the Border.
