An untitled 1948 painting by Canada’s Jean-Paul Riopelle, born ninety-four years ago today

Wow. Many weeks on this earth are difficult; few are dominated by the spectacle of a US Secretary of State calling a press conference just for the opportunity to avoid denying having called the president a “fucking moron” — but, well, here we are.

As for us, we maintain MobyLives as a fucking-moron-free zone. Here’s some of what we’ve been covering instead:

• Alex Primiani caught us up on the fury that has overtaken the streets of Catalonia, with a couple of really good reading recommendations. ¡No Pasarán!
• Ryan Harrington couldn’t help but notice something missing from the cover of the latest Sports Illustrated.
• Nikki Griffiths considered the possible absence of intelligent life among the stars being harnessed to power UK participation in World Book Day 2018.
• Chad Felix dropped in on Minneapolis’s Moon Palace Books to help them pack for an upcoming move. Men with ven, start your engines!
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  Another Riopelle, from 1951

  Ian Dreiblatt spoke with William Logan, the eagle-eyed critic who accused poet and W.W. Norton editor Jill Bialosky of plagiarism (and “imprisoning” readers in a “poetry theme park.”)

• Stephanie DeLuca stood up for the readers of romance fiction. Then, a few days later, she stood up for readers of romance fiction. (Colonel Sanders could not be reached for comment.)
• Peter Clark noted that, however one feels about Hugh Hefner (maybe negatively, for example?), editors he hired made Playboy a powerhouse—kind of a Martian greenhouse, even—of science fiction innovation.
• Taylor Sperry told us about the bad-asses of Tramp Press, who’ve announced a new policy: any manuscript that comes in with a cover letter addressed “Dear sirs” goes straight to the trash can. Not all editors are sirs.
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  A Riopelle from 1953

  Susan Rella wrote about her desire to enthusiastically split infinitives, and about the language scientists urging teachers to completely stop correcting students for doing the same.

• Simon Reichley sent solidarity to the workers of the LA Times newsroom, who’re forming a union! Which side are you on?

We were also very happy to publish:

• Some reflections on living under the gun in America, by Melancholy Accidents author Peter Manseau. Read it and learn about “the birth of the uniquely American fear of a bullet out of the blue; an awareness that sooner or later—in a school, in a night club, at a concert on the Vegas strip—there will always be another broken man (always, it seems, a man) with a gun.”

Riopelle’s “Perspectives,” from 1956

There were a couple stories we didn’t get to this week:

• Penguin Random House has acquired Seattle-based indie Sasquatch Books for an undisclosed sum. PRH Publisher Services president Jeff Abraham, who described the acquisition as “enormously appealing to both sides,” will oversee Sasquatch personally.
• Leonard Cohen’s final book of poems, The Flame, will be released by Canongate next year. Reportedly, Cohen was working on the book until just a few days before he died — his manager, Robert Kory, described him as working on the collection with “a singular focus” near the end.
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  Riopelle’s “Composition”

  David Maraga, Chief Justice of Kenya, has accepted a massive donation of law books from the World Bank-funded Judicial Performance Improvement Project. The books’ value was estimated at 159 million Kenyan shillings (about 1.54 million US dollars), making it the largest donation to a public institution in Kenyan history. Hopefully, there won’t be, y’know, too many strings attached.

• When schools in Wichita were not encouraged to assign George, Alex Gino’s novel for kids about a transgender child who wants to play the titular spider in a school production of Charlotte’s Web, the author raised enough money for any teacher who wants to to provide their students with copies.
• Kids in Mumbai are adopting books!
• It was… pretty weird to see poet Amy Lawless get trolled by Urban Outfitters on Twitter!

And finally, it is Saturday morning, and you deserve—nay, require—a cartoon. Here’s one that’s fun, kinda complicated, and, best of all, weird af. Presenting: The Mysterious Cities of Gold! Enjoy — we’ll see you back here on Monday.