At LA Weekly there is a Q & A with the literary critic James Wood, who is under fire at the moment and has been for some time now. I am not completely up-to-date on the polemics surrounding Wood but the interview/Q & A is interesting as an entry point into the debacle. Wood, in his 2000 article “Human, All Too Inhuman,” coined the term hysterical realism as a way to describe the “overflowing excess” of many contemporary novels and the general style of their authors. More here.
Michael Bérubé of Crooked Timber talks about the state of the Humanities, its utility and futility, using an essay by Mark Deresiewicz as his starting point. Drawing on the recent fad for Darwinistic literary criticsm (literature and criticism in an evolutionary context) Deresiewicz mentions the fear of going back to humanistic stereotypes such as impressionistic readings and belletristic writing. Now there’s a word: belletristic. The word refers to the appreciation of writing for its aesthetic qualities rather than for its informative or active content. But belletristic is itself a beautiful word. Much like dyslexic. Yeah. Ask a dyslexic to write that one. Bérubé has some really valid points here though.
The Guardian has an interesting little piece featuring the top 10 most famous ménage a trois in literature. If nothing else, it’s a little funny.
And finally, Associated Press announces that Dick Cheney has signed a book deal. The book is due in the spring of 2011. This should be interesting. Story from the Boston Herald.
Note how the above sentence opens with a conjunction. That’s not belletristic writing. I love that word.
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