In the latest issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education, Jennifer Howard explores the state of literary theory. (This is a free-access link, thankfully.) In the Chronicle Review, editor Lindsay Waters (Harvard University Press) argues that the study of literature in academe is no longer connected to …literature.
Jeff Bryant of the Syntax of Things and Trevor Jackson of Creekside Review asked a number of book bloggers which writers they thought were deserving of great attention. The results are compiled here, and include a brief paragraph from the nominator, along with relevant links for those of you who are curious to know more. Among the underrated writers selected, you’ll find Jim Ruland, Kirby Gann, Salvador Placenscia, Blaise Cendrars (!!), Stephen Dixon, Tayari Jones, and Maureen McHugh.
“As far as I’m concerned, everybody in America should read Across the Wire: Life and Hard Times on the Mexican Border by Luis Alberto Urrea. It strips the ugly political rhetoric around immigration and reveals the very human face of this issue. The book came out in 1993, but I think it’s more relevant today than when it was published. More than sociopolitical analysis, though, Urrea has created a heartbreaking, tough and compelling narrative in this collection of essays. (Try to read the section titled “Father’s Day” without crying. I dare you.) This work is a testament to survival, and to hope, but never becomes sentimental. Urrea is a storyteller to be envied and emulated.”
Samantha Dunn is the author of Failing Paris, a finalist for the PEN West Fiction Award in 2000, and the memoir, Not By Accident: Reconstructing a Careless Life, a BookSense 76 pick. Her most recent memoir, Faith in Carlos Gomez: A Memoir of Salsa, Sex and Salvation, is published by Henry Holt & Co.
If you’d like to recommend an underappreciated book for this series, please send mail to llalami at yahoo dot com.
Annie Proulx’s “Brokeback Mountain,” which originally appeared in the New Yorker in the fall of 1997, is reprinted this week, and you can read it at the NYer site. The film adaptation, directed by Ang Lee, has been getting major accolades over the last week.
Update: Read my review of Brokeback Mountain here.
The Los Angeles Times‘ Ashraf Khalil and Jailan Zayan explain why Al-Shamshoon, the Arabic-language version of The Simpsons, may not be the big hit its producers hoped it to be:
Omar doesn’t drink beer. That is not a misprint.
Instead, he spends time with his buddies at a local coffee shop. At home, he pops open frosty cans of Duff brand juice.
Needless to say, Simpsons fans in the Middle-East are none too pleased:
“They managed to make one of the funniest shows ever into something that is terribly unfunny, and one of the smartest shows around into something incredibly dumb,” ranted an Egyptian blogger who goes by the name Sandmonkey and who wants the show canceled. “Us Simpson lovers can’t take this abomination any longer.” (..) “What’s Homer without beer?” Sandmonkey told The Times, preferring to be identified by his blogger name. “This is a fundamental issue!”
A couple quoted in the article have found a way to enjoy the show, however. They “dissect the translations, recall the originals and debate what jokes do or do not work in Arabic.” D’oh!