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TODAY: In 1963, classicist Edith Hamilton dies.
- “I thought that somehow, if I preserved my work, I could also preserve myself.” On the existential fear of losing your online persona. | Lit Hub
- “In a word: sex. Ayn Rand made acquisitive capitalists sexy.” Lisa Duggan on the influence of the original mean girl. | Lit Hub
- Why would anyone choose to run 100 miles through the desert? Adharanand Finn on the edges of human endurance. | Lit Hub
- Enormous rabbits, tiny foxes, and the endless maw of space-time! Behold, the best book covers of May. | Lit Hub
- “I couldn’t comprehend why these quiet stories set in quiet middle-class Canadian towns were so beloved.” Dennis Tang on growing into his appreciation of Alice Munro. | Lit Hub
- “He’s a closed system, but he opens all the doors for you to read everything.” Rodrigo Fresan and Rodrigo Rey Rosa on Jorge Luis Borges. | Lit Hub
- Comic prison riots, dictionary wars, the case for America, and more of the Best Reviewed Books of the Week. | Book Marks
- Nathan Ward on Deadwood’s real-life origins, legendary figures, and why Wild Bill Hickok had to die so that the town could live. | CrimeReads
- “A woman is human; a female might be a sea cow (not that there’s anything wrong with that).” Comma Queen and woman writer Mary Norris on the “woman”-as-adjective debate. | The New Yorker
- And the latest celebrity to announce that they’re writing a memoir is . . . Debbie Harry! Okay, sorry for the snark, we’re excited. | The Guardian
- “You have to want an escape—a vacation for body and brain.” What is a beach read, anyway? (And why?) | Vulture
- R.O. Kwon enumerates her beauty regimen (and tells the story behind her signature lower-lid smokey eye). | Cup of Jo
- “Seriously speaking, what is the use of art-criticism? Why cannot the artist be left alone?” Read an excerpt from Oscar Wilde’s “The Critic at Large,” in which two semi-fictional characters discuss cigarettes, daffodils, and “the shrill clamour of criticism.” | Interview
- “It’s surprising to me—though perhaps it shouldn’t be—that in 2019, anyone would take issue with the idea of a Holocaust hero being gay.” Andrew Sean Greer talks to Julie Orringer about her new novel. | The Paris Review
Also on Lit Hub: • On The Literary Life with Mitchell Kaplan, Albert Woodfox discusses spending 43 years in solitary confinement for a crime he didn’t commit • Lit Hub staff favorite stories of the month • Read “Sweet sweet strawberry taste,” a story by Samuel Kóláwólé from AGNI 89.
