March 31 – April 4, 2025 ‹

The Best of the Literary Internet, Every Day

TODAY: In 1856, Booker T. Washington is born. 

• Ed Simon argues why in an era of national decline, the Great American Novel is still an idea worth pursuing. | Lit Hub History
• Douglas J. Penick considers time, transitions, and the unfamiliar world of aging. | Lit Hub Memoir
• “Even as she does not mean to comfort, I feel her — here, still right here, to tell us how it really is.” Rachel Kushner on the stories of Clarice Lispector. | Lit Hub Criticism
• Mike Drucker recalls the best worst speech at his Super Mario themed-wedding. | Lit Hub Humor
• “I am writing this to rebuke good behavior. I am writing this to rebuke the algorithm.” Kaveh Akbar on the necessity of action to protect the vulnerable. | The Nation
• Lincoln Michel considers what we write about when we write about writers. | Counter Craft
• A.O. Scott explores the many lives of The Great Gatsby. | The New York Times
• Read Joan Didion’s notes on therapy to John Gregory Dunne. | The New Yorker
• Simon Wu explores what fiction has to do with playing Mario Kart and Las Vegas. | Los Angeles Review of Books
• Max Norman on AI generated fiction: “This fossil of human, and copyrighted, writing is perhaps the only interesting metafictional moment in the piece.” | The Drift
• Are we taking A.I. seriously enough? Joshua Rothman considers the hype and anti-hype. | The New Yorker
• Emma Cieslik considers the role of zine archives in preserving trans history. | Atlas Obscura
• H.M.A. Leow explores imperialism in the works of Joseph Conrad: “Conrad’s prose shows that there’s no escaping exposure to contaminating elements.” | JSTOR Daily
• “The problem with fascism is that it’s an empty container– there’s no actual care or belief outside the violent exercise of power.” Sol Brager discusses their graphic memoir, Heavyweight. | The Comics Journal
• Aaron Boehmer chronicles the censorship of student journalists on University of Texas campuses. | The Nation
• Matt Reeck and Michelle Chan Schmidt discuss the philosophy of literary translation. | Asymptote 
• “In no state today can a minimum-wage worker afford a two-bedroom apartment.” Michael Friedrich examines a new book on the phenomenon of working homelessness. | The Baffler
• Laura Marsh considers the role of family in Katie Kitamura’s Audition. | New York Review of Books
• “A story of two truths: light / and shadows.” Read three poems by Dalia Taha, translated by Sara Elkamel. | The Dial

Also on Lit Hub:

Why so many working Americans are unhoused • 10 great new children’s books • 10 new nonfiction titles • The episode that changed NPR’s This American Life • Christopher Spaide recommends new poetry collections • Why university presses are so critical for poetry • April’s best sci-fi and fantasy books • On writing a sequel to a 20-year-old novel • Living in the shadow of long COVID • Can writers remember how to read for fun? • Read “Jailbreak of Sparrows,” a poem by Martín Espada • Stockton University academics speak out against fascism • What the myth of the Minotaur unearths about human nature • How Norman Mailer taught Anthony Giardina to defend his plots • The infinite possibilities and gross misuses of genetic research • Read “Architect’s Watercolor,” a poem by Arthur Sze • How calculated risk-taking can lead to scientific innovation • On the government’s threat to NPR and PBS • Lessons from the Jewish children who fled Nazi Germany • Are you the asshole if you don’t want to list someone you fell out with in your book acknowledgments? • 5 book reviews you need to read this week • Mourning rituals and burial practices of the prehistoric past • What an old dollhouse has to teach about storytelling •  Read “Because You Wished For It,” a poem by Ahmad Almallah • How “backyard biology” can lead to scientific breakthroughs • On the university as crisis and price of Columbia’s soul • Crystal Hana Kim on the many uses of food • Nick Ripatrazone revisits Val Kilmer’s poetry • The best reviewed books of the week • Nancy Kricorian on memorializing her grandmother in a novel • Maggie Smith on why we should embrace imperfection •  Read “The Bible as Literature,” a poem by Amy Gerstler

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