Lit Hub Daily: May 26, 2017

• Crooks, liars, and spies: 10 essential books of Washington intrigue. | Literary Hub
• Why Marcia Butler left the worst day of her life out of her memoir. | Literary Hub
• On the pleasures of reading Susan Sontag, eternal citizen of Paris. | Literary Hub
• For Rodrigo Fresán, all writing is a form of realism. | Literary Hub
• Can you truly escape terror? On the heartbreak of leaving Istanbul. | Literary Hub
• Backstage with Hunter S. Thompson, and a whole lotta coke. | Literary Hub
• The best-reviewed books of this week, featuring Amelia Gray, Jo Nesbø, Maurice Sendak, George Orwell, and more. | Book Marks
• “[Writing is] not like a compulsion like washing my hands until they bleed. It’s more like I give in to a desire to try to make sense of something.” An interview with Sarah Manguso. | The Riveter
• We compel ourselves to the page day after day: Kristopher Jansma on David Foster Wallace and the pleasure and self-seriousness of writing. | Center for Fiction
• “Why do we, or some of us, read such material, and read it with appetite?” On the appeal of pessimistic literature. | NYRB
• “And still, they come, telling us/Through the ages not to fear.” A poem by Tracy K. Smith. | The Awl
• Clones, Choco shrapnel, and beyond: 12 of the creepiest corporations in literature. | Electric Literature
• “The character of Victor Paige wasn’t a character I took that seriously in writing the book—now that character is president.” Speaking with James Sturm about his recently re-released graphic novel, The Golem’s Mighty Swing. | The Millions
• There’s the lore, and there’s the truth: A short story by Lena Valencia. | Joyland

Also on Lit Hub: At the Author’s Guild Gala with Toni Morrison · The week in literary TV and film news · Read from Courtney Maum’s forthcoming novel, Touch.