Lit Hub Weekly: May 20 – 24, 2019

• Jeremy Klemin looks for meaning in Bruce Chatwin’s unpublished magnum opus, and finds “the muddy, ephemeral beauty that lies in unadulterated failure.” | Lit Hub
• “To those who are protective of the verb to read, I ask what is gained by insisting on the distinction?” JamesTate Hill offers a brief history of the audiobook. | Lit Hub
• “I had become a master of cushioning the blows of life for my characters.” Brandon Taylor on learning when to protect his characters, and when not to. | Lit Hub
• Alan Cumming on John Waters filthy wisdom, John Connolly on Thomas Harris’ bloodthirsty new novel, and more of the Book Reviews You Need to Read This Week. | Book Marks
• Kellye Garrett on Barbara Neely and her iconic protagonist, Blanche White, the first black female sleuth to be embraced by mainstream publishing.| CrimeReads
• “There is one form of power that has fascinated me ever since I was a girl, even though it has been widely colonized by men: the power of storytelling.” Elena Ferrante on reclaiming the power of stories. | The New York Times
• “Robinson writes like he tries to run – changing mode, changing register, trying to surprise”: On the life of Roger Robinson, the legendary runner and writer who argues that running is an essential part of our shared literary heritage. | Stuff
• The tragicomic story behind “Life With You,” the unlikely jazz hit that Jean Rhys wrote for George Melly and the Feetwarmers. | Belfast Telegraph
• “He heard the scrape of her lighter, then saw smoke float over him, unravel. For a long time he had been speaking.” Read an excerpt from Ben Lerner’s forthcoming novel, The Topeka School. | The New Yorker
• “I couldn’t help but wonder: Can New York City survive without strong public libraries?” Sarah Jessica Parker invokes the ghost of Carrie Bradshaw to protest library budget cuts. | Page Six
• “To this day, I worry that if I mess up, others like me might not be asked or allowed.” Min Jin Lee on public speaking and power. | The New York Times
• “What’s surreal to you is just somebody’s Wednesday somewhere.” Read an interview with Karen Russell (of Florida). | Jezebel
• “We are the people who spend our lives making things that are not true seem believable, and we don’t think Brexit is even a good effort.” John le Carré, Philip Pullman, Neil Gaiman and more writers against Brexit. | The Guardian
• Could this mysterious billboard in London mean that the long-awaited final novel in Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell series is imminent? | The Bookseller
• On Tuesday, German authorities gave Israel 5,000 documents that were kept by Franz Kafka’s confidant, Max Brod, which will form part of a Kafka collection in Israel’s National Library. | Leavenworth Times
• Read about the people who have worked to bring libraries to children in the most unlikely of places: laundromats. | Mother Jones
• “I don’t think anyone would argue that Daniel Murphy’s tight butt muscle, or Miguel Cabrera’s ‘flu-like symptoms’ (read: hangover) are actual disabilities.” Sara Nović on baseball and how Americans (don’t) talk about disability. | The Believer
• Binyavanga Wainaina, Kenyan author and gay rights activist, has died at 48. Read an excerpt from his memoir, One Day I Will Write About This Place. Aminatta Forna, Malaika Adero, Mukoma Wa Ngugi, and others pay tribute to Wainaina, who died this week, and Billy Kahora on the groundbreaking nature of his writing.| Brittle Paper, Lit Hub
• A roundtable discussion with five authors debuting this summer, including Lisa Taddeo (Three Women) and Taffy Brodesser-Akner (Fleishman Is In Trouble). | EW
• How The New York Times “has become a book deal factory.” | Vanity Fair

Also on Lit Hub:

Seven conversations with T.C. Boyle: a writer in his habitat, living his best life • Ann Beattie has some post-book tour snack suggestions • “There are a number of things you should expect to happen in the event that you start posing as Susan Sontag on the internet.” Rebecca Brill on inhabiting the diaries of a great mind • Hot tips for a being a great literary citizen, care of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz • Laurence Scott on the glitching reality of contemporary America • Kevin Powers: An ode to John Graves’ Goodbye to a River • Danielle Evans gives us five reasons a writer should move to Baltimore • Not here to make friends: on six of the best bad women in fiction • Game of Thrones is over: we suggest these six epic fantasy series to slake your dragonthirst • Cutter Wood considers the implications of the retirement of the universal kilogram, the last physical object used as a standard of measurement • Xuan Juliana Wang on her long-distance dog, Ella • In India, one publisher’s high-stakes fight for a caste-free society • Can we reverse the tide of an anti-science America? • Invaluable advice from Nora Ephron, national treasure • Ryan Chapman examines the influence of McDonald’s on his novel • Jay A. Fernandez would like book reviewers to dispense with the casual narcissism (and a few other things) • Ebony Thomas on writing toward fantastic spaces as a person of color • Kate Mulgrew reflects on the work of waiting, in acting and in life • Veronica Scott Esposito on the paradigm shift that came with her transition • On the rebel Southern daughter who fought to expose white supremacy • The future is uncertain for Sweden’s floating libraries • On the origins of honeybee domestication • In praise of Cora Crane—writer, bill-payer, bordello owner—and other literary women who prop up literary men • Struggling to mine family history for a novel • 50 Raymond Carver covers from around the world

Best of Book Marks:

Congratulations to Jokha Alharthi and Marilyn Booth, who won the 2019 Man Booker International Prize • This week in Shhh…Secrets of the Librarians: Eugene Lim on Leni Zumas, Rupert Giles, and libraries full of tears • “The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel”: William Gibson’s Neuromancer at 35 • Dawson’s Fall author Roxana Robinson recommends five historical novels that inspire her, from Wolf Hall to My Beautiful Friend • This week in Secrets of the Book Critics: Gabino Iglesias on Moby Dick, Goodreads, and nightmarish fairy tales • Thomas Harris’ Cari Mora: an inventive and crisp thriller OR just ketchup sprayed on the page? • A collection of Gabriel García Márquez’s early journalism, a tome of filthy wisdom from John Waters, and more of the Best Reviewed Books of the Week

New on CrimeReads:

The essential debut crime, mystery and thrillers to read this May • Carlene O’Connor on the many kinds of mysteries set in Ireland • Paul French guides us through crime writing in the ancient city of Athens • Marc Cameron reflects on his time as a US Marshal in Alaska • Kinohi Nishikawa on the life and times of Donald Goines, who ushered in a new era of pulp fiction by black authors and for black audiences • Dwyer Murphy takes to the archives to catalogue the most iconic nose injuries of all crime cinema • Steph Post shows us that fairy tales are really just hard-boiled crime stories • G.S. Denning on the everlasting appeal ofHolmes/Cthulhu mashups • Deadwood is noir to its very core, and it has the rap sheet to prove it • Anna Pitoniak on Tom Ripley, Jay Gatsby, and how to con your way into the American Dream