Lit Hub Daily: May 21, 2019

• “To those who are protective of the verb to read, I ask what is gained by insisting on the distinction?” James Tate Hill offers a brief history of the audiobook. | Lit Hub
• Seven conversations with T.C. Boyle: a writer in his habitat, living his best life. | Lit Hub
• “Those Golden Arches cast the largest shadow.” Ryan Chapman examines the influence of McDonald’s on his novel. | Lit Hub
• Jay A. Fernandez would like book reviewers to dispense with the casual narcissism (and a few other things). | Lit Hub
• “The problem of representation has created discord in the collective imagination.” Ebony Thomas on writing toward fantastic spaces as a person of color. | Lit Hub
• “It all starts with listening.” Anna Deavere Smith’s notes on Notes From the Field. | Lit Hub
• Can we reverse the tide of an anti-science America? | Lit Hub
• “You better make them care about what you think,” and other invaluable advice from Nora Ephron, national treasure. | Lit Hub
• Dawson’s Fall author Roxana Robinson recommends five historical novels that inspire her, from Wolf Hall to My Beautiful Friend. | Book Marks
• Kellye Garrett on activist-turned-crime-writer Barbara Neely, and her iconic protagonist, Blanche White, the first black female sleuth to be embraced by mainstream publishing. | CrimeReads
• The Amazon Literary Partnership has awarded $1 million in grants to 66 literary non-profits in the US this year, in addition to providing $120,000 each to the Academy of American Poets and the Community of Literary Presses and Magazines. | Publishers Weekly
• “He heard the scrape of her lighter, then saw smoke float over him, unravel. For a long time he had been speaking.” Read an excerpt from Ben Lerner’s forthcoming novel, The Topeka School. | The New Yorker
• Narrative Magazine, one of the first digital-focused literary publications, turned 15 last week. The birthday celebration included luminaries like George Saunders and the guest of honor, Tobias Wolff. | San Francisco Chronicle
• “He is one of those writers whose work has influenced you even if you’ve never read him.” Alexander Chee on the legacy of Younghill Kang’s 1937 novel East Goes West. | BuzzFeed News
• Recapture your Salinger-obsessed youth with the Franny paper doll you never knew you always wanted! | The Paris Review
• “I couldn’t help but wonder: Can New York City survive without strong public libraries?” Sarah Jessica Parker invokes the ghost of Carrie Bradshaw to protest library budget cuts. | Page Six
• “To this day, I worry that if I mess up, others like me might not be asked or allowed.” Min Jin Lee on public speaking and power. | The New York Times

Also on Lit Hub: An interview with Frugal Bookstore, a Boston bookstore with a focus on writers of color • Read an excerpt from Jo Lendle’s debut novel, All the Land (trans. Katy Derbyshire).