Lit Hub Weekly: June 17 - 21, 2019

• “Natural winegrowers’ experimentation is an act of liberty that provides a sense of freedom to others.” How the natural wine movement is about so much more than wine. | Lit Hub
• “I do not know why or how, but I need your love, in the truth of it, the gentleness of it, the Godliness of it.” On Anne Sexton’s epistolary love affair with a monk. | Lit Hub
• Gutenberg didn’t actually invent the printing press: on the unsung Chinese and Korean history of movable type. | Lit Hub
• Tinder meets Greek tragedy in Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s debut novel, Neil Gaiman’s tribute to Gene Wolfe, and more of the Book Reviews You Need to Read This Week. | Book Marks
• Barbara Bourland looks at class-conscious narrators as the investigators of society, and recommends ten crime and literary novels that showcase “the clarifying, acidic flavor of exposed hypocrisy.” | CrimeReads
• “Of course, Pat Buchanan, Rep. Henry Hyde, and the Rev. Pat Robertson have never missed a period and yet they have much in mind for young women who have done so.” Read an unpublished op-ed on abortion by Elizabeth Hardwick. | NYRB
• A profile of AM Homes looks at her mastery of the short story — and the character she hasn’t stopped writing about since 1989. | Vanity Fair
• “A more just ending would have involved Edna drowning any of those men in the Gulf—maybe all of them—and then going to take a well-deserved swim.” Carmen Maria Machado on rereading The Awakening as an adult. | The Paris Review
• “[The Riggios] seem to know the difference between money, which one spends, and wealth, which one wields.” The strange story of a secret literary fellowship funded by Barnes & Noble’s chairman. | The New Yorker
• Grammatical mishaps and spelling faux pas: 19 linguistic controversies that split opinions and snowballed into political conflict. | The Guardian
• “We were told we were hysterical. We were told that our books are crap and that’s why no one reviews them. Then someone started counting.” Jennifer Weiner on “women’s literature” and telling big stories. | Salon
• Locals from Athens, Copenhagen, Florence and more on the books you should read before visiting their hometowns. | Harper’s Bazaar
• “Maybe there are occasions where incomprehension is liberation.” Rumaan Alam, in praise of non-critical thinking. | Gay Mag
• “I viewed it more as a tragedy, as we see in literature. There were certain forces acting on these characters, who found themselves in this unlikely, heartbreaking story.” Rebecca Godfrey on writing Under The Bridge. | The Believer
• “We’ve only just begun to recognize Lorraine Hansberry . . . as a queer, boundary-pushing experimentalist.” Why we’re still looking for Lorraine Hansberry. | The Point
• Read Ta-Nehisi Coates’ rebuke of Mitch McConnell and case for reparations, from his testimony at Wednesday’s Congressional hearing. | Slate
• “The impulse makes Hale relatable; the follow-through makes her impossible to root for.” On Kathleen Hale, Goodreads, and the nature of online criticism. | BuzzFeed News
• “When Wong decided to go public with his criticism of Penguin … the literary community responded”: A recap of the copyright controversy over Penguin Classics’ new edition of John Okada’s 1957 novel No-No Boy. | International Examiner
• The story of the publishing house Faber & Faber, the “midwife at the birth of modernism”, is one of strategic management, literary luminaries, and at least two embarrassing misses (Ulysses and Animal Farm, anyone?). | The Guardian
• Marlon James, Ottessa Moshfegh, Karen Russell, Tana French and more recommend books to take to the beach this summer. | GQ

Also on Lit Hub:

Robert Macfarlane on deep water cave-diving and the lure of the void • On one hand, there is no “perfect summer book.” On the other hand, here are twenty • The Nigerian writers salvaging tradition from colonial erasure • Why does a language die? • In honor of Stonewall’s 50th anniversary, writers share their views of the uprising across time • On the lessons of a writing nemesis • Joy Lanzendorfer on what the Anne Sexton taught her about self-promotion • On the Kafkaesque feeling of Kafka tourism in Prague • How Gregory Peck made To Kill a Mockingbird all about Atticus • Lewis Hyde on the intoxicating power of forgetting where you came from • Lili Anolik and Geoff Dyer on writing about movies • Nicholas Mancusi in defense of soap operas • Jayson Greene on the risks of writing about grief • How Lakshmi Shankar became the voice behind Gandhi • Discovering America’s heavenly kingdom of crude oil • Molly Reid on the weirdness, wonder, and terror of the contemporary zoo • Cheer yourself up with a collection of rejection letters sent to (now) famous writers • Kathy Acker: a desk, a disease, an accounting • On the first openly gay reporter at a major American newspaper • 50 one-star Amazon reviews of The Picture of Dorian Gray • Why does losing a pet hurt so much? • Here’s how humanity would fare in the event of an asteroid collision • On envy, jealousy, and what they add to our lives • Viet Thanh Nguyen on discovering Asian American literary voices as a 20-year-old • On the grand cultural influence of Octavia Butler • Roy Scranton on climate change • On the dark legacy of John Wayne

Best of Book Marks:

Congratulations to Elizabeth Acevedo, the first writer of color to win the UK’s most prestigious children’s book award! • The New York Public Library’s Lynn Lobash talks forgotten books, The Library Lion, and the 88 neighborhood libraries of NYC • Dual Citizens author Alix Ohlin recommends five great novels about sisters • Critic Amal El-Mohtar on Naomi Mitchison, Sofia Samatar, and the critical dance of destruction • Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s debut novel, Mark Haddon’s reimagining of Pericles, and a biography of Kim Jong Un all feature among the Best Reviewed Books of the Week

New on CrimeReads:

All the true crime you need to read this month • Rene Denfeld and Gilly Macmillan discuss gender, experience, and crime fiction • Alexis Hall recasts Sherlock Holmes as a hard-boiled icon • The crime fiction scene in Algiers is about more than just Camus • Daniela Petrova’s accidental adventures in private investigation • Ryan Jacobs investigates the shady underworld of truffle dealing • Jo Baker on writing crime fiction to process real world traumas • Kelsey Rae Dimberg on the eternal relevance of noir visions • Ryan Steck recommends June’s best political thrillers • Lisa Levy looks at the many forgers, scammers, and dealers of art world noir