Proust the Envious, Hugo the Spiritualist, Flaubert the Obscene: canonical French authors’ lesser literary letters go to auction
Good news, wealthy book lovers! Jean Bonna, the Geneva-based antiquarian book collector known by those in the know for possessing the greatest goddamn collection of French literature in the world… Read more »
Rare Flaubert Manuscript Goes to Auction
It must be a slow news week here in the United States, because I’ve been reading an awful lot about rare books overseas. And the latest edition is a real zinger: a… Read more »
The Art of the Novella Challenge 50: The Lemoine Affair
Title: The Lemoine Affair Author: Marcel Proust First published: 1904-8 Page count: 100 First line: In one of the last months of the year 1907, at one of those “routs”… Read more »
Virginia’s “Beloved bill” would let parents block sexually explicit literature in the classroom
In 2013, the Washington Post’s T. Rees Shapiro profiled Laura Murphy, a Fairfax County, Virginia parent, whose son, Blake Murphy, was assigned Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Beloved for his… Read more »
“A time full of hope has been replaced by a time of fear”: Svetlana Alexievich delivers Nobel Lecture in Literature
Yesterday, Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich delivered the annual Nobel Lecture in Literature, at the Swedish Academy in Stockholm. Past lectures have provided fascinating windows into prizewinners’ life and work, and… Read more »
Rizzoli Bookstore reopens with windows designed by André Leon Talley
When Rizzoli Bookstore closed last year, there was much gnashing of teeth and rending of garments. Its space on 57th Street in Manhattan was iconic, with high ceilings, a beautiful chandelier,… Read more »
The Art of the Craig Ferguson Novella
No, we’re not offering Craig Ferguson a record breaking deal for his first kids book. There is however, a bit of a back story to this post. Last August we… Read more »
Happy Birthday, Gustave Flaubert!
On this day in 1821, Gustave Flaubert was born in Rouen, France. In our Art of the Novella series, you can find his story A Simple Heart, which was originally… Read more »