The Finnegans Wake Reading Group of Austin, TX reads one page every other week. Read more
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Month: May 2025
In a First, a Story Collection Wins the International Booker Prize
Banu Mushtaq’s “Heart Lamp,” translated by Deepa Bhasthi, had received little notice in Britain or the United States before Tuesday. Now, it’s won the major award for translated fiction. Read more
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A Complete Guide to the Writings of John McPhee
In chronicling McPhee’s career where he broke ground applying devices long associated with fiction to the literature of fact, Noel Rubinton gives insights into McPhee’s techniques, choice of subjects, and research methods, shedding light on how McPhee turns complicated subjects like geology into compelling stories. Beyond detailing more than seventy years of McPhee’s writing, Rubinton recounts McPhee’s half century as a Princeton University writing professor, a little known part of his legacy. McPhee inspired generations of students who wrote hundreds of books of their own, also catalogued here. With an incisive foreword by New Yorker staff writer and former McPhee student Peter Hessler, Looking for a Story also includes extensive annotated listings of articles about McPhee, reviews of his books, and interviews, readings, and speeches. Whether you are already an admirer of McPhee or new to his writings, this book provides an invaluable road map to his rich body of work. Read more
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‘Murderbot’ Is the Best New Comedy of 2025. You Read That Right
Murderbot is an Apple TV+ show that premieres Friday, dropping the first two episodes of its 10 episode season. It’s about a robot played by Alexander Skarsgård rented by a team of planetary scientists to work security on their expedition. Unbeknownst to them, it’s more than a robot – it’s gained sentience, and wants nothing more than to be left alone so it can watch the thousands of episodes of TV shows it’s downloaded. Read more Watch trailer
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Palestinian Author Yasmin Zaher Wins Dylan Thomas Prize
The Coin, chosen in a unanimous decision by judges, “is a borderless novel, tackling trauma and grief with bold and poetic moments of quirkiness and humour”, said writer and judging chair Namita Gokhale. “It fizzes with electric energy”, with Zaher bringing “complexity and intensity to the page through her elegantly concise writing”. Read more
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Where To Start With Virginia Woolf
As Mrs Dalloway turns 100, here’s a guide to the greatest hits of one of the most celebrated British novelists of all time. Read more
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Is the Next Great American Novel Being Published on Substack?
Professional writers and passionate amateurs are using the platform to experiment with new forms. Read more
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12 Famous Writers From History and Their Favorite Cocktails
In researching the drinks of choice for some of history’s greatest writers, I realized that many of the cocktails they once enjoyed now offer a fascinating glimpse into their individual personalities, preferences, and even their writing style. Read more
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Announcing the 2025 PEN America Literary Awards Winners
The 2025 Literary Awards conferred nearly $350,000 to writers and translators. Spanning fiction, poetry, essay, translation, and more, these books are dynamic, diverse, and thought-provoking examples of literary excellence. Read more
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The Hobo Handbook
The name of the book is a ruse. Camping on Low or No Dollars, the dingy cover page reads. An older edition bears a similarly anodyne title: From Birmingham to Wendover. Both are a misdirection, intended to keep the wrong people—cops, journalists, nosy normies like me—from realizing what they’re holding. The Crew Change Guide is a set of best practices and guidelines for hopping freight trains anywhere in the U.S. and Canada. A “crew change” refers to a train’s personnel shift, a brief window of opportunity for those brave enough to take it. In the heist movie, this is that ten-second gap after the night watchman clocks out and before his replacement takes over. For a train hopper, it’s a rare chance to clamber up a wagon undetected. Read more
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