The Language of Grief
On the occasion of Pacific Northwest writer Charles D’Ambrosio’s new book of essays, Loitering, slated for November release from Tin House, we’re recommending “Documents,” a piece D’Ambrosio contributed to The New Yorker in 2002, and which is included in Loitering. The essay, a delicate yet devastating memoir in fragments, is partially composed of passages culled...
Claudia Roth Pierpont on Nina Simone
This week we recommend Claudia Roth Pierpont’s thoughts on the life of Nina Simone, “A Raised Voice,“ over at the currently open archives of The New Yorker. As Roth Pierpont observes, controversy broke out earlier this year over the announcement of the selection of Zoe Saldana, “a movie star of Dominican descent and a light-skinned beauty along...
Literature, Emptiness and Empathy
It is a popular opinion that literature promotes empathy in the reader. Author John Green says in his Crash Course video “How and Why We Read,“By understanding language, you will have a fuller understanding of lives other than your own.” In the above video, author Azar Nafisi agrees, asking the question at the 2014 American Library Association Annual...
Dear Life: A Childhood Visitation by Nobel-Prize Winner Alice Munro
Alice Munro was just awarded the Nobel Prize in literature this past week. Munro, a Canadian-born author, was described by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm (responsible for awarding the Nobel Prize) as “master of the contemporary short story.” Born in Wingham, Ontario, Munro published her first story while studying at the University of...
