Lit Hub Weekly: January 6 - 10, 2020

• David Zucchino tells the story of the 1898 white supremacist plot to take over Wilmington, North Carolina, one of the only successful coups in the history of the US. | Lit Hub History
• What happens when your writing goes viral? Courtney Maum on the perks and perils of unexpected internet fame. | Lit Hub Craft
• Has listening become a lost art? Kate Murphy on evolving modes of communication in the 21st century. | Lit Hub Science
• Parul Sehgal on Danez Smith’s new collection, Julian Lucas on Garth Greenwell’s return to Bulgaria, and more of the Reviews You Need to Read This Week. | Book Marks
• In our biggest crime fiction preview ever, the CrimeReads staff recommends125+ crime novels, mysteries, and thrillers to look forward to in 2020. | CrimeReads
• Gish Jen, Ilya Kaminsky, Franny Choi, and more imagine life in the age of surveillance with poetry and fiction. | The New York Times
• “There’s something self-destructive about this essay, and I’m grateful to the London Review of Books for rejecting it.” Nell Zink on Dotoevsky, Walser, and…a lot of other people! | N+1
• Why did Emma Southworth—one of the most successful writers of the 19th century—fall into obscurity? | DCist
• What better actress to sit in on your creative writing class than one starring in a play in which she portrays a terminally ill creative writing professor? Mary-Louise Parker drops in on Leslie Jamison’s Columbia course. | The New Yorker
• A new documentary about a 1969 debate between the controversial Nobel Prize-nominated writer Yukio Mishima and Japanese college students restores original footage of the author once thought lost. | Variety
• “Nobody could have predicted how she would turn the robbery of her beloved dog into a triumph over oppression in her life.” The incredible story of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s kidnapped pup. | Truly*Adventurous
• These are the 100 best books ever written by African American women. (Let the arguing begin.) | Zora
• John Addington Symond’s 1873 essay, “A Problem in Greek Ethics,” was controversial for praising the ancient Greeks’ liberal view of sexuality. Five of only ten known copies were known to survive—until now. | Smithsonian Magazine
• “It’s okay to imitate Saunders, just not in the hapless, superficial way you’re doing it.” Benjamin Nugent on the proper way to stan (and yes, steal ideas from) short story master George Saunders. | The Paris Review
• Two introverts walk into a bar—and inspire a worldwide fellowship of quiet literary nerds. | San Francisco Chronicle
• “Growing up, I often saw dad’s dark side, depending on how much he had to drink.” Susan Mailer reflects on her relationship with her late father, Norman. | The Wall Street Journal
• “I went down the climate change rabbit hole. Seven years later, I’m still trying to get out.” Jenny Offill on our “weirdly-boring, slow-moving apocalypse.” | Greenpeace
• In praise of Elizabeth Gilbert, whose “writerly persona violates of one of the central mandates of serious, literary woman writerhood: avoid sincerity, avoid earnestness, avoid women.” | Outline
• “We are now in the mature stage of a book-to-film boom that is quietly transforming how Americans read and tell stories—and not for the better.” James Pogue on the decline of nonfiction in the IP era. | The Baffler
• Queer literature is “not on the margins of the literary tradition: That’s right at the heart of it.” says Garth Greenwell. | The New York Times

Also on Lit Hub:

Lynn Steger Strong on the messy, complicated, unapologetic writing of Elizabeth Wurtzel, who died this week at 52 • Tayari Jones on the necessary American history of Ann Petry’s The Street • How Ivan Turgenev’s short stories helped convince Czar Alexander II to liberate the serfs • Chuck Palahniuk: The first rule of writing is: you do not bore your readers. The second rule of writing is: you do not bore your readers • David Shariatmadari on our love of untranslatable words • Sarah Vallance on the strange connection between brain damage and sex drive • What a beloved dessert reveals about cultural appropriation • Tobias Carroll explores the literary intersection of climate disaster, apocalypse, and folk horror • Sean Adams on the pressures of writing communities • Miranda Popkey talks to Kristin Iversen about life as a narrative • On the mathematical problem of human creativity • T Kira Madden, Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, Julie Buntin and more recall their first Big Yeses • Candacy Taylor plots the uncertain journeys for 20th-century black American travelers along Route 66 • On the renegade ideas behind the rise of American pragmatism • America’s rich history of Nazi-punching • What can an essayist do in the face of massive tragedy? • 15 great books that speak to the lives of middle-aged women • On the restless comedy of Jane Austen’s unfinished novel • Liz Moore has some practical suggestions for finding time to read after becoming a parent • On architect Paul Rudolph’s strange vision of a cross-Manhattan expressway (and other unfinished projects) • At Nancy Mitford’s grave, where romanticism meets reality

Best of Book Marks:

Start your new year off right with these 5 new sci-fi and fantasy books • 15 of the Most Anticipated Books by LGBTQ Authors for the First Half of 2020, feat. Danez Smith, Chani Nicholas, Paul Lisicky, Samantha Irby, and more • Jerome Charyn recommends five books that invoke invisibility, from The Metamorphosis to Moby-Dick • Abby Manzella on Charles Chestnutt, Willa Cather, and pop culture podcasts • Kiley Reid’s Such a Fun Age, Liz Moore’s Long Bright River, and David Zucchino’s Wilmington’s Lie all feature among the Best Reviewed Books of the Week

New on CrimeReads:

Lizzy Steiner recommends 8 true crime podcasts to listen to in 2020 • Jess Lourey recommends new series for a new year • J.T. Ellison explores the lure of the boarding school mystery • Sulari Gentill on reviving the traditional mystery for a 21st century audience • Wallace Stroby on the noir poetry and doomed romanticism of Cornell Woolrich • Camille LeBlanc looks ahead to the most anticipated crime shows of 2020 • A first novel is a thing to celebrate: rounding up January’s best debut crime fiction • Charles Todd on the long history of rebellious women characters in crime fiction • Paul French on the crime fiction landscape of St. Petersburg • Eliza Casey on capturing the zeitgeist of the early 20th century