Readings

The author of Long Division and How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America on growing up with black literature as contraband, Drake’s epic shit-talking, and the joys of writing for people who don’t read for a living.

Wayne Gretzky wasn’t the first athlete to agree to play in a warmer climate in front of less demanding fans, and he won’t be the last. That doesn’t mean his trade from Edmonton to L.A. wasn’t an affront to the gods.

As literature all but abandons the epic, Matt Bell’s debut novel, In the House Upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods, stands out: A modern fairy tale built from small parts—a recognizable domestic story with a dark, fabulist backbone.

Paul Theroux’s The Last Train to Zona Verde describes a visit to the South African slum of Langa. Obviously, “slum tourism” is exploitative and dehumanizing. But we can’t avert our eyes at poverty, so what is the right way to look?