SansPoint

Almost anyone who loves tennis and follows the men’s tour on television has, over the last few years, had what might be termed Federer Moments. These are times, as you watch the young Swiss play, when the jaw drops and eyes protrude and sounds are made that bring spouses in from other rooms to see if you’re O.K Via The Millions

You don’t have to appreciate tennis to appreciate DFW’s writing on it.^[1]

1. And for god’s sake, do not skip the footnotes. ↩

Irony confuses. Let’s leave dramatic irony (you know, back when irony was tragic and the audience knew what was going to happen to Oedipus before he did) aside, as well as the debate over the supposed death of irony… Instead, let’s talk about how we talk — and write.

Irony requires an opposing meaning between what’s said and what’s intended. Sounds simple, but it’s not. A paradox, something that seems contradictory but may be true, is not an irony.

Via Paper Cuts

Depravity, drink, drug addiction and abuse are hardly the most uplifting subjects for a leisurely read. But for years, misery memoirs have been the toast of the book world, with stories of human suffering generating huge sales. But new figures suggest readers have reached their pain threshold and the mis lit boom may be over.

Via Conversational Reading

This was never my cup of tea to begin with. Still, there will always be a market for stories of heartbreak and lost love… I hope.^[1]

1. No, of course this has nothing to do with my in-progress novel. Of course not. No, I did not just kick my notes into the fire. ↩

Think about the numbers: 350 fiction programs. 3,000 new graduates per year. Each taking let’s say four workshops, each of which requires three submissions. That’s 36,000 short stories for each graduating class of writers, who have worked to convince each other that the top 1% of short stories - those that come closest to generating workshop consensus - may be published in a literary magazine. A literary magazine whose readership may largely comprise writers looking for a place to publish their short stories. “Guarded self-consciousness” starts to look like a mathematical inevitability. Perversely, then, the greatest danger to the short story may be the very institution that’s sustaining it.

Via The Millions

I’ve only tried in a limited extent to publish my work—though I have made $5 publishing a short story in a defunct online magazine—,and this post fills me with both a little dread and a little hope for getting my words out there on paper, and a check in my pocket.

If you’re a book snob, or a reverse book snob — meaning you’re so well read that you’ve moved on to a pile of bad, vaguely Buddhist self-help books, Austrian military history in iffy translation, alternative fashion magazines, and rereading Pliny for the fourth time, and you try not to talk about this stuff at parties — the first thing you’ll want to do with Book Smart is check out how many of Mallison’s choices you’ve already read. via Bookslut

I’m not sure I can pick twelve books that, in my opinion, would lead to Literary Genius, but I might pick this up as a curiosity.