Harper Lee's classic turns 50
Fun news today, from the anniversary of To Kill a Mockingbird to a hilarious, star-studded book trailer. Enjoy!
- Last Sunday marked the 50th anniversary of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, and the blogosphere is buzzing with fans’ memories of the book. You can also find out what people like Oprah, Tom Brokaw, and Wally Lamb have to say about it in Mary McDonagh’s essay collection Scout, Atticus, and Boo. McDonagh asked contributors to reflect on their favorite passages in To Kill a Mockingbird and comment on the novel’s lasting meaning. Read an interview with McDonagh and an excerpt on NPR.
- Satirical author Gary Shteyngart’s next book, Super Sad True Love Story, hits stores on July 27th, and Random House is promoting it with possibly the best book trailer ever made. Based on the premise that Shteyngart actually doesn’t know how to read, the trailer includes comical interviews with Mary Gaitskill, Jeffrey Eugenides, folks at Random House, and Shteyngart’s students at Columbia (including James Franco). Check it out on Omnivoracious.
- In short story news, the Frank O’Connor award short list has been announced, and five out of six of the authors on it are American. The Guardian‘s Alison Flood uses this news to refute critic Lee Siegel’s recent claim that American fiction is dead and irrelevant, and she asks finalists to comment on Siegel’s remarks. Their responses are encouraging, offering further proof that the novel is hard to kill. Finalists include TC Boyle, Ron Rash, Robin Black, Belle Boggs, Laura van den Berg, and British author David Constantine.
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