TODAY: In 1952, Ernest Hemingway finishes writing The Old Man and the Sea.
- “A stupid book about irresponsible losers.” The best one-star Amazon reviews of On the Road. | Lit Hub
- Linda Sarsour explains how to pull off a 250-mile protest march (hint: a lot of grit and a little Harry Belafonte). | Lit Hub Politics
- “Mechanical travel blunts our sense of the world.” On the reverie and detachment of the American road trip. | Lit Hub Travel
- A mother’s survivor’s guilt in the wake of Sandy Hook: Carol Ann Davis on the impossible task of moving beyond tragedy. | Lit Hub Memoir
- How J. Edgar Hoover used the power of libraries for (gasp!) evil. | Lit Hub History
- John Feinstein searches for the heart of college basketball in the midst of March Madness. | Lit Hub Sports
- March’s Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy features new titles from N. K. Jemisin, Hilary Leichter, Sarah Perry, and more. | Book Marks
- “She is not a real person. She is a label.” Lizzy Steiner on cheerleaders, true crime, and the American Dream. | CrimeReads
- “The real subject is not her daughter, or her experience of parenthood, or even a tragic death. The real subject, as is always the case with Didion, is her alienation from these things.” On Joan Didion and moving to Los Angeles. | VQR
- “In its semantic density, great poetry gives you the sense you’ve skipped over and missed some available shade of meaning.” Elisa Gabbert on Alice Notley and the power of poetic nonsense. | The New York Times
- Archive of Our Own (AO3), the Hugo Award-winning fanfiction site, seems to have been blocked in China. It’s unclear whether this is a temporary or long-term ban. | Abacus
- The answer to that great piece of literary trivia: Why do hardcover books come out before the paperbacks? | Mental Floss
- In the recent controversy over American Dirt, Oprah “played a role in prompting long-neglected discussions, even if this latest dialogue involves questioning her judgment.” | Buzzfeed News
- Dylan Farrow responds to the news that Woody Allen will publish a memoir: “Hachette’s complicity in this should be called out for what it is and they should have to answer for it.” | Los Angeles Times
Also on Lit Hub: Illustrating the domestic bliss of Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein • Sharon Dodua Otoo and Idra Novey in conversation • Read an excerpt from Louise Erdich’s new novel The Night Watchman.
