Lit Hub Weekly: July 24-28, 2023

TODAY: In 1954, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring is published.  

• Poe vs. Himself: On Edgar Allan Poe’s one-sided war with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. | Lit Hub Biography

• Exploring the dreams of octopuses. | Lit Hub Animals

• How do we tell the stories of Picasso’s mistresses? Anne Boyd Rioux looks to the “weeping woman,” Dora Maar. | Lit Hub History

• Tamara Faith Berger in praise of the new sex writing: “This is literature created to hear the sluts speak.” | Lit Hub Criticism

• Colson Whitehead’s Crook Manifesto, Patrick deWitt’s The Librarianist, Kate Zambreno’s The Light Room, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Silver Nitrate all feature among July’s Best Reviewed Books. | Book Marks

• 30 horror novels to look out for in the second half of the year. | CrimeReads

• Here’s why we should take “AI replacing novelists” off our long list of fears for the future. | Wired

• “In The Brothers Karamazov, narrative unfurls at the mad and authentic pace of human emotion.” A (new) review of Dostoevsky’s classic. | New York Times

• Remembering Japanese novelist Seiichi Morimura, author of Proof of the Man and The Devil’s Gluttony. | Japan Times

• Ducks author Kate Beaton and DC Comics were the big winners of this year’s Eisner Awards, held on Friday at San Diego Comic-Con. | Comics Beat

• Leopold Froelich explores the feud between the identical twins behind Ann Landers and Dear Abby, respectively, who popularized the American advice column. | Lapham’s Quarterly

• “One thing leads to another. Again and again.” Confessions of a self-proclaimed book hoarder. | Los Angeles Times

• “What makes a strong voice, and why does ChatGPT’s voice so often fall flat?” Laura Hartenberger considers the writing lessons of AI. | Noema

• Allison Yarrow on the continued importance of the birth story. | Elle

• Reminder: Don’t review books you haven’t read. (Or, why Goodreads is garbage.) | The Atlantic

• The case for public reading as a social activity. | Financial Times

• Martin Dolan considers The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom as ecofiction. | Los Angeles Review of Books

• “What does anyone gain from consuming near-identical stories over and over?” Sarah Manavis on the problem with TikTok’s new book publishing venture. | The New Statesman

• Molly Templeton wonders: What do we want from the bookish internet? | Tor

• “My locs soak up water and sun like a plant. They laugh at me, speak to me, and grow with me.” In the new issue of Dorothy Parker’s Ashes, Lirit Gilmore writes about hair and stories. | Dorothy Parker’s Ashes

• Peter Schurmal Wallace considers the connection between Peter Handke’s writing and his politics. | The Nation

Also on Lit Hub:

Masha Gessen chronicles the early days of Putinism in Russia • Weird, funny, dark children’s books • On Patricia Highsmith and the horror of obsession • Adam Dalva remembers his brother • How a patchwork of conflicting narratives created contemporary Eastern Europe • What does it mean to “become” a writer? • Wendy Chin-Tanner on writing a novel inspired by her father’s time at Carville, a leprosy treatment center • Wang Xiaobo on the limitless mind of Italo Calvino • H.P. Lovecraft “loved this dish for its heartiness as much as for its frugality.” • Terrance Hayes pays homage to the poet Lucie Brock-Broido and her immortal Maine Coon cat, Sweet William • On the men who caught the largest tuna ever recorded • Why 1990s Blackpool is the perfect setting for a queer reimagining of James Joyce’s Ulysses • Mihret Sibhat considers the multitudes of our names • Why sharks need protection from humans • How a former war correspondent became a modern bootlegger • On W.E.B. Du Bois’ path toward secular humanism • Crafting fiction from family heirlooms • How my library patrons helped me finish my novel • On the legendary friendship between Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge • Jonathan Galassi on the late, great Robert Gottlieb • The Best Audiobooks of July • July’s Best Reviewed Fiction and Best Reviewed Nonfiction