LitHub Daily: January 25, 2016

• Oleg Kashin wrote a satirical novel of Putin’s Russia—soon after, he was beaten within an inch of his life. Will Evans, Kashin’s translator, tells the story… | Literary Hub
• There was never any story between us to lose: Paul Lisicky on voiding and being voided by an ex. | BuzzFeed Books
• From Dorothy Dinnerstein to Alice Walker, Gloria Steinem selects her ten favorite books. | T Magazine
• The poetry world has already broken its New Year’s resolution to avoid racist scandals: “three male-centric media bastions” have questioned whether Sarah Howe deserves her T.S. Eliot Award. | The Guardian
• I can live in letters: on the collected letters and many lovers of Iris Murdoch. | The New York Times Sunday Book Review
• Joyce Carol Oates on selective memory, scientific misconduct, and the astonishing nature of dreams. | Electric Literature
• David Lipsky on the marriage of and letters to Vladimir-protector Vera Nabokov. | Harper’s Magazine
• “I have no ambition to save China.” An interview with Hong Kong publisher Bao Pu. | NYRB
• “I knew [The Portable Veblen] was hairy, like a rescued castaway who at last has the chance to shower and be shorn and pruned.” Elizabeth McKenzie talks with her editor. | Publishers Weekly

Also on Literary Hub: Inside a true community gathering space, Third Place Books · A day in the life of a West Virginia coal miner · New fiction by Diane Williams: “Bang Bang on the Stair” from her new collection, Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine