Last week, novelist Hari Kunzru was advised to leave the Jaipur Literature Festival after he read excerpts of Salman Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses, which remains banned in India. (Rushdie, also present, received death threats.) On Twitter, Kunzru argues that he did nothing wrong: “More Indian legal experts confirm that we broke no law by reading from The Satanic Verses."
Everyone’s talking about Newt Gingrich’s personal life and political record, but what about his books? In addition to a series of novels about WWII, Gingrich wrote a revisionist take on the Civil War—in which the South wins. Since the politician hasn’t been flaunting his literary chops on the campaign trail, one Twitter fan is doing it for him. Since Jan. 23, @gingrichfiction has been tweeting some of Newt’s best lines. Most of these must be fake, but with Newt, it’s hard to say.
Tonight at Manhattan’s 192 Books, n+1 is celebrating the release of their new issue, “Machine Politics,” including essays on the Occupy movement, Elizabeth Gumport’s essay about Chris Kraus, and excerpts from Benjamin Kunkel’s new play. And don’t worry, if you meet somebody at the party and forget to get their number, there are always the n+1 personals.
Laura Kipnis analyzes Michel Houellebecq’s self-parody.
In 1933, F. Scott Fitzgerald penned a letter to his eleven-year-old daughter offering her some fatherly advice about (a) what to worry about and (b) what not to worry about. In the first column: courage, cleanliness, efficiency, and horsemanship. In the second: mosquitoes, parents, boys, and popular opinion.
Justin Stanley, the founder of Uprise Books, explains how his nonprofit group gets kids to read by promoting banned books: “The same teen who would never think to read The Great Gatsby because it was named the best book of the 20th century might be turned on to the book that was challenged for its 'language and sexual references.'"
Which books inspire the most tattoos? (But wait, don’t forget Thomas Pynchon, Emily Dickinson, and Shakespeare.)
