LitHub Daily: April 15, 2015

TODAY: In 1925, Vladimir Nabokov and Vera Slonim wed, play chess numerous times over the next 52 years.

• Extremist cults and the dangerous lure of charismatic madmen and the socialization of a feral child and coming of age amid turn-of-the-millennium paranoia; a conversation between Katherine Dunn and Porochista Khakpour. | Literary Hub
• “When words are used so cheaply, experience becomes surreal; acts are unhinged from consequences and all sense of personal responsibility is lost.” A re-reintroduction to Renata Adler. | The New Republic
• Is it possible to make money selling used books for a penny? If you’re taking in 20 tons of them a week, maybe! | The Guardian
• Medievalists vs teens on Twitter: an age-old feud. | Hyperallergic
• The dramatics surrounding Go Set a Watchman’s publication continue: foreign publishers must read the manuscript within “the closely guarded London offices of Lee’s literary agent.” | LA Times
• On the dehumanizing evolution of men’s formal wear and the contradictory symbolism of ties. | The Baffler
• Manic Pixie Drone War: a strong contender for Best Title of 2015/reflection on the ways we discuss unmanned killing machines. | The LA Review of Books
• Creative writing exercises for women writers. #11: Write like a French woman, allowing yourself fingertip-sized portions of everything. | McSweeney’s
• Orwell famously worked out the price of books vs cigarettes. Of course, a Canadian would agonize over books vs beer. | The Town Crier

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