At its best, Twitter is an outlet for a kind of modern day, technological haiku. At its worst, it skins and lays bare only the mangiest 140 characters of expression. We use Twitter. It brings DSM more readers. But Twitter as a means for literature? Not so much. The Christian Science Monitor furthers the discussion. Then it is on to the wonders of childhood, as seen through the eyes of Michael Chabon. After that, we grapple with Marianne Moore’s confounding revisions, learn why American authors are coddled, and finally, across the pond, celebrate Phillip Hoare’s winning of the Samuel Johnson Prize. Happy reading. –Kevin Murphy
– Most great stories of adventure, from The Hobbit to Seven Pillars of Wisdom, come furnished with a map. That’s because every story of adventure is in part the story of a landscape, of the interrelationship between human beings (or Hobbits, as the case may be) and topography. Every adventure story is conceivable only with reference to the particular set of geographical features that in each case sets the course, literally, of the tale. — Michael Chabon in the NY Review of Books
– In one of the short stories in Aleksandar Hemon’s new book, the narrator describes the arc of his life in the most concise way possible, as a list of scenes for a film: “8. I go out for a stroll. I see a pretty girl. 9. My parents meet the pretty girl. 10. I marry the pretty girl. 11. I work”. The list is sharp and funny (“20. My children kiss me,” it continues, “21. I kiss them”). This is Hemon’s fourth book and I suppose he is entitled to play with conventions. — Nazeer in Prospect
– I’ve never been completely sure what I think about Marianne Moore’s celebrated poem “Poetry.” Apparently, Moore had similar feelings—revising the poem many times across the span of five decades. — Robert Pinsky in Slate
– A childhood love of Melville’s Moby-Dick led to a lifetime passion for whales which, in turn, resulted in the writer Philip Hoare tonight being named winner of the UK’s most important prize for non-fiction books. – Phillip Hoare in the Guardian
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