TODAY: In 1934, writer Ved Parkash Mehta is born.
- “It made me horny, in a downtrodden, creepy way.” Sandra Newman on writing sex for money. | Lit Hub
- “The poet wishes secretly to be a philosopher. . .” Barry Lopez and Charles Simic, in conversation, on a 1972 road trip. | Lit Hub
- “In a way, a ‘self’ might be made up from habits.” What Lynn Tillman thinks about while making tea in the morning. | Lit Hub
- The quest to acquire the most beautiful Gutenberg Bible of them all—also known as the oldest, most expensive book on the planet. | Lit Hub
- “She wrote it to change one man’s mind. She succeeded.” On the lesser known life behind “The Yellow Wallpaper.” | Lit Hub
- “I’ve kind of spent my whole life trying to find jobs that I could just sit and read at.” Meet the mobile book cart that highlights women’s writing. | Lit Hub
- Zinzi Clemmons on Zora and Langston, Robert Macfarlane on Barry Lopez, and more of the Book Reviews You Need to Read This Week. | Book Marks
- Siri Hustvedt’s Memories of the Future: a playground of ideas OR one long blog post? | Book Marks
- Laura Benedict leads us on a tour through classic literature’s darkest hearts, from Dorian Gray to Tom Ripley. | CrimeReads
- Lupita Nyong’o said her dream of adapting Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah “is looking very, very likely.” | P.M. News
- “The only thing worse than watching the show would be talking about it.” Read an excerpt from Susan Choi’s Trust Exercise, which is about to be your new favorite book. | Recommended Reading
- Rediscovering Nelson Algren, blacklisted novelist who chronicled the people “left behind by the striving, upwardly mobile American middle class.” | The Nation
- “In political fiction at least, journalists don’t make great protagonists”: Novelist (and veteran journalist) Tom Rosenstiel on why journalists are so rarely the heroes in political thrillers. | The Atlantic
- “As much as you can, leave your own preferences and identity behind and be faithful to what the show is and wants to be.” Tim O’Brien on writing for “This Is Us.” | The New York Times Magazine
- Welcome to Boonsboro, Maryland, the town that Nora Roberts (re)built in her own image. | Jezebel
- Poet Linda Gregg has died at 76. | Poets
Also on Lit Hub: Fiction/Non/Fiction: March Madness edition • On Otherppl, Roger McNamee discusses Facebook’s infancy • When you’re a writer who can’t afford a room of their own • Aldous Huxley foresaw America’s pill addiction with eerie accuracy • Read from a new translation of Arturo’s Island
