Oprah has chosen Alan Paton’s book for her next book club. I remember reading it when I was fifteen or sixteen and really loving it. I wonder what I would think about it now. The book was made into a movie a few years ago. Haven’t seen it.
The Paris Review is going forward with their fiftieth anniversary celebration.
Forgive the cliche. And forgive the lack of accent on ‘cliche’ while you’re at it. Anyway, the new issue of Small Spiral Notebook is up. Check it out.
I was going to post a rant about that Zoe Heller profile in the Guardian (you know, the kind where they spend half the article talking about what she’s wearing) but Jessa beat me to it.
Update: La Muselivre also has a go at it.
of Who Killed Daniel Pearl: one in the Guardian by Peter Guttridge and the other by Christopher Hitchens in Slate.
David Guterson talks about getting writer’s block after September 11.
“I was totally absorbed in the real world, the politics, the history, the news, and I just couldn’t find my way into the fictional world. … When I finally could return to writing the novel, it was in fits and starts. It was a real struggle. I lost a whole year, and it was not a good year. … I assumed there were other people, other artists in a similar state. Besides, writer’s block is a well-known phenomenon. Other writers have had it. I finally figured this was my time.”
Guterson’s new novel, Our Lady of the Forest, comes out this week.