A nice short piece from Jim Shepard on Flannery O’Connor’s most famous short story.
Unlike novels or films, for sitcoms there is no a priori sense of an ending. Elaine Blair’s essay on the NYRB blog, on the history of single women in sitcoms and how the form necessarily privileges a certain amount of romantic non-commitment, is some seriously good television criticism.
The many similarities between Jay-Z and Jay Gatsby.
America’s Barnes and Noble is going out of business, and that’s bad news all over no matter how you slice it or dice it. Here’s Melville House’s co-publisher Dennis Johnson with his characteristically coherent take, and here’s Emily Gould’s much needed addendum to that—a good reminder that authors and readers should care about the Books business nearly as much as any publishing pro. If you need a piece to help you mourn another chain bookstore, I’d recommend Malcolm Harris’s 2011 obituary for Borders.
How to read novels written by your friends.
--
Photo by Warner Bros
