literature news stories on Newser

Philip Roth: I Did Not 'Crack Up'

Matt Cantor — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:09:27 CDT

Philip Roth isn't happy with the Atlantic : A recent piece in the magazine said he suffered from "a 'crack-up' in his mid-50s," and the novelist says that's simply "not true." The Atlantic Wire points out that the episode, "whatever you call it," has been widely discussed in past articles and...

First Line of The Stranger Is Still Translated Wrong

Dustin Lushing — Sat, 19 May 2012 10:20:05 CDT

Albert Camus' The Stranger opens with the famous—and relatively easy to translate—"Aujourd’hui, maman est morte." It's so easy, in fact, that not a single English translation has gotten it right, writes Ryan Bloom in the New Yorker . He argues that the precise wording of the first line has...

America's Most (Surprisingly) Well-Read Cities

Kate Schwartz — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:27:05 CDT

If you think America's bookworms live in New York or San Francisco, think again. Amazon has released its list of the country's 20 most well-read cities, and they hail from such states as Michigan and Florida, reports Reuters . Top honors goes to Virginia's Alexandria, and though Berkeley and Cambridge do...

2 New Little Prince Pages Shed New Light on Book

Thu, 03 May 2012 13:36:02 CDT

The only known draft pages of Antoine de Saint-Exupery's classic children's book, The Little Prince, are on display at a Paris auction house, ahead of their sale this month. The two fragile handwritten sheets, brimming with original musings and even a new character, were discovered two months ago in France...

Get Ready for Walden Pond: The Video Game

Matt Cantor — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:05:05 CDT

Henry David Thoreau lived at Walden Pond to escape the comforts of modern life; soon, you'll be able to share his experience right on your flat-screen TV. Thanks to a $40,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the University of Southern California is developing a video game...

Shakespeare Had Co-Author

Rob Quinn — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 08:03:29 CDT

All's well that ... blends well? William Shakespeare worked with a co-author on All's Well That Ends Well , according to researchers who have analyzed the play line by line. The Oxford University experts say the most likely candidate for co-bard is celebrated playwright Thomas Middleton, judging from his distinctive vocabulary and...

Maybe It's Time to Get Over Shakespeare

Kevin Spak — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:35:58 CDT

Is Shakespeare still relevant today? Before you answer, consider how many of his plays would be ruined by the addition of cellphones, writes Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post . "Soon, if we do a modern staging, we'll have to stipulate that, 'In fair Verona, where we lay our scene/The cell...

Heirs of Tolkien, Dickens Collaborate on Books

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:59:12 CDT

The descendants of literary royalty are coming together on two new children's fantasy books. JRR Tolkien's grandson, Michael Tolkien, will write the two novels—which will be based on stories Tolkien himself read to him when he was young—and Charles Dickens' great-great grandson, Gerald Dickens, will narrate the audiobooks....

Pulitzer Board Just Sucked Life Out of Book Industry

Evann Gastaldo — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 09:50:04 CDT

Sure, there's a possibility that when the Pulitzer Prize board failed to announce a fiction winner, the reason could have been a simple deadlock. But most who heard the news probably didn't assume that, and instead figured "it was a bum year for fiction," writes author Ann Patchett, who penned...