Lit Hub Daily: September 17, 2021

• Who was Herman Mankiewicz before Hollywood? Nick Davis on the iconic screenwriter’s years in publishing and (surprising) early ambitions. | Lit Hub

  Article continues after advertisement

• “Yamashita paints a picture of America in perhaps the only way it can be accurately portrayed.” Why everyone should read Karen Tei Yamashita, and where to start. | Lit Hub

• How Chaucer’s tales gave readers “a new notion of human existence.” | Lit Hub

• Eric Foner considers the ongoingness of Reconstruction-era questions and consequences in America. | Lit Hub History

• “The choices I make between science and art, between atoms and stories, are as vacillating and tentative as they have ever been.” Linda Rui Feng on going from exobiology and geology to… writing fiction. | Lit Hub

• After Hours Editions founders Sarah Jean Grimm and Eric Amling on the “slow burn” of publishing poetry. | Lit Hub

• Gina Frangello, Anjali Enjeti, Sam Cohen, Chet’la Sebree, and Marisa Siegel talk about reinvention in writing and in life. | Lit Hub

• Colson Whitehead’s Harlem Shuffle, Joy Williams’ Harrow, and Mary Roach’s Fuzz feature among the Best Reviewed Books of the Week. | Book Marks

• “I think restraint is an undervalued form of freedom.” Maggie Nelson discusses the different forms of freedom, her new book, and advice for writers. | The Creative Independent

• Who needs a union? Eve Livingston makes the case for collectives. | Vice 

• Are we experiencing “the golden age of trans literature,” or are we simply “applauding politely at its existence”? | Xtra Magazine

• Anatomy of a Christian publishing scandal: On the uproar over the God Bless the USA Bible. | Slate

• Supply chains are a major problem for publishers right now, and they’re likely to continue for the rest of the year. | Quartz

• Leila Slimani talks about her new novel, identity, and the question of freedom. | NPR Code Switch

• “I also know it can all come crashing down, so I keep working and trying not to coast.” Colson Whitehead on thinking about success. | Entertainment Weekly

Also on Lit Hub: On the Confucian view of the Yellow River and the unification of China • Three poems by Dan O’Brien • Read from Monica Byrne’s latest novel, The Actual Star