Lit Hub Weekly: October 18 – 22, 2021

• “But fiction is to literal representation what painting is to photography; it’s not claiming to be ‘real’ in the same way.” Mary Gaitskill on borrowing from real life in writing. | Lit Hub

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• How to memorize the un-memorizable: Marcus du Sautoy offers tips and tricks for building a better “memory palace.” | Lit Hub

• Sonya Huber recommends eight great novels that unfold over the course of 24 hours. | Lit Hub Reading Lists

• “After the wave of attention from the first night, America seemed to shut down. Not for a natural disaster, but for a cultural awakening.” Wil Haygood on when 130 million Americans tuned in to watch Roots. | Lit Hub TV

• Elizabeth Strout’s Oh, William!, Rebecca Solnit’s Orwell’s Roses, and Billy Porter’s Unprotected all feature among the Best Reviewed Books of the Week. | Book Marks

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• Mark Seal traces the influence of Mario Puzo’s The Godfather on David Chase’s Sopranos. | CrimeReads

• Bad news from Vegas: The Believer will stop publishing after its spring 2022 issue. | The Hub

• Helen Macdonald profiles Denis Villeneuve, the filmmaker breaking “the curse of Dune.” | The New York Times Magazine

• “Clifton’s purpose is to teach us to see that we are, in fact, moving together and that we are, in fact, part of a large whole.” Tracy K. Smith on the luminous Lucille Clifton. | The Paris Review

• Poets of color have ushered in a new golden age for poetry, writes Leah Asmelash. | CNN

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• On Nella Larsen, Mariah Carey, and the history of passing narratives. | Vulture

• “It’s a terrible thing to be estranged from your own language because you don’t feel that you reach a certain standard.” Manon Steffan Ros discusses the spiritual power of translation. | Words Without Borders

• “The obsession with this fantasy is reflected at the highest levels of this industry.” On ghostwriting and the myth of the lone creative genius. | Study Hall

• Hanif Abdurraqib on the work of Aminah Robinson and how the MacArthur grant could help him impact folks in the city he loves. | Columbus Alive

• “Who are the gatekeepers of history?” Mary Rambaran-Olm on the prevalence of white supremacy in Medieval history, and finding community in the archives. | Public Books

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• “What I needed was not more brutal truth but a good reason to go on.” Joshua Ferris gives in to illusion. | Esquire

• Seven authors consider their favorite “overlooked” Black writers. | The Guardian

• Inside the surprising succession news at the Scholastic publishing company. | The New York Times

• A tribute to Gary Paulsen, whose stories “affirmed the inexhaustible ability of young people to grow and learn on their own terms.” | Gawker

• Chelsea G. Summers reflects on her experience selling books through TikTok and other social media platforms. | Dirt

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• “Solitude without solace, shorn of Thoreauvian simplicity, of emotional absolution, is also real and too often it is the lot of women.” Rafia Zakaria on searching for Thoreau as a Pakistani American woman. | Slate

Also on Lit Hub:

Rebecca Solnit considers the importance of the rose in art and culture • Jane Goodall still has hope for the planet • On the 29-hour standoff that got Samuel L. Jackson expelled from Morehouse College • Eight teachers across America reflect on teaching through a pandemic • Can you guess these famous authors based on their first bios? • Reading Ross Gay, a true poet of our times • Oedipus at the Bellevue Men’s Shelter • Meriel Schindler on the unusual relationship between Hitler and his family physician • Sesali Bowen on who gets to be a “bad bitch” • Read 19th-century reports about encounters with dragons • What do journalists owe their subjects—especially unwilling ones? • Calculating the cruelty of the American Dream • Louise Fein considers how epilepsy has been (poorly) portrayed in fiction • How second-wave feminists took on gendered drinking discrimination • On the 16-year task of piecing together The Canterbury Tales • How Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx discovered hard rock in small-town Idaho • On rescuing the last diving horse in America • Take an illustrated tour of beloved, diverse indie bookstores • On the lineage of protest music • Sallie Tisdale on the manipulative tactics of reality TV • Patrick Nunn on rising ocean levels and climate change denial • Was Tess of the D’Ubervilles the first #MeToo novel? • How nostalgia leads to political decline • Chris Hedges reflects on teaching playwriting in prison • Finding a book when you can’t remember the title… or author • Oscar Oswald on the search for a wild poetry • Who gets to write about the pandemic? • Amy Lee Lillard on channeling her anger through punk music • Katherine May recommends books about the importance of walking