#literature

#literature

I met John Tottenham in LA because we have the same publisher, Semiotext(e). I was intrigued to read his first novel, Service, because I'm interested in first novels written by middle-aged people. In sport, it's good to be young, but not always in literature. You have to go through some kind of trouble before you can write a book. Service is about a character called Sean - a double of Tottenham - who is in his late forties

It's about the platforms that facilitate it, and how social media diverts attention away from things like reading and toward things that largely don't matter. Josh says it himself: in fairness, short-form content is slightly more engaging than Macbeth quotation flashcards. That's truly worrying. It's true that the education system can and should do better, but I also think we need reminding that young people have always felt alienated from the education system.

But if you talk to people in the publishing industry, you'll also hear a few names that aren't riding high with the bookies, such as Swiss Popliteratur novelist Christian Kracht, whose Eurotrash was longlisted for the International Booker this year. Australian novelist Gerald Murnane has been a perennial bookies' favourite, but if the prize goes to Down Under, some suggest it's more likely to be awarded to Aboriginal writer Alexis Wright instead.

Happily, The Atlantic's garden bursts with the former and is almost entirely lacking in the latter, and in this new project of daily quizzes, I get to share a bunch of that trivia with you, curious readers. So set down the Snapple cap and stop to smell the blooms-is that geranium?-with questions from recently published stories. To get these questions in your inbox every day, sign up for The Atlantic Monday, September 29, 2025

This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 664 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books.

Pynchon does not spare himself but, unfortunately, he is right. For aficionados only.

Kinga, the protagonist in "A New New Me," is a forty-year-old corporate employee who struggles with the grind of everyday life, facing exhaustion and self-optimizing pressures.

When Theo loses his mother in a museum bombing, the rupture is instant, but the collapse stretches across years. Grief hollows him out and leaves him spiraling without an anchor.

Returning to the old manuscript brings back memories of doubt and obsession, reflecting on a journey that started in advertising in pursuit of creative expression.

Conventional wisdom says that a beach read ought to be light and fun-a book with a pastel cover. But the beach read can be anything you want it to be.

A classic is a book which has never exhausted all it has to say to its readers. However, it is challenging to get around to actually reading them.

In "Florida Palms," the story captures a gritty side of Central Florida, a region shaped by the aerospace industry but now facing economic decline.

Sara Byrne navigates her role as a journalist amidst chaos, capturing both the absurdities of war and the profound human suffering in Gaza.

Naomi Stadlen's work tells mothers that their contributions, even when unseen, are valuable. Her bestselling book, What Mothers Do, underscores this message.

I worked with primary school kids who were struggling with home and school life. One little boy, aged seven, had a tough exterior but would listen with rapture during story time.

On a long train trip from Sydney to Melbourne, an older couple handed me a well-thumbed copy of The Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton without saying a word.

K.B. Dixon's most recent collection of stories, Artifacts: Irregular Stories (Small, Medium, and Large), was published in Summer 2022, showcasing his storytelling skills.

On August 2, 1921, eight White Sox players were acquitted of charges related to throwing the World Series but were banned for life by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis.

The mystery of how Esther died is never solved... we learn she had been intoxicated and wobbly on her feet when last seen at a bar.

Adapting Stephen King stories proves challenging due to the depth of character inner lives. Externalizing their darkest feelings for the screen remains a complex task.

In her early career, Louisa May Alcott began with the title 'Success' for a novel but shifted focus to labor, culminating in the book 'Work: A Story of Experience.'

Hector Bellerin's Instagram showcases his passion for literature, featuring a variety of books including classics and contemporary works that emphasize queer life and surrealism.