I once got in an online argument with a well-known novelist who’d written a screed in a high circulation national magazine urging people to stop reading The Old Man and the Sea. The novelist in question considered himself an environmental fiction writer and considered Hemingway’s Nobel Prize-winning novel an anti-environmental book, because it depicts the killing of a fish. At the time this struck me as exactly wrong, and it still does. Let me explain why.
In our morning reading: revisiting the discography of Bessie Jones, an interview with Garth Greenwell, and more.
This Friday morning, we’re celebrating the birthday of Simone de Beauvoir, reading Morgan Parker on revision, delving into a Thomas Pierce playlist, checking out an excerpt from Will Boast’s memoir, and more.
Revisiting Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Zadie Smith and Elif Batuman (among many others) contributed to an exquisite corpse short story, thoughts on Aphex Twin, and more.
News on the NYRB documentary, reviews that infuriated Hemingway, interviews with Tony Molina and Sean Madigan Hoen, music from Matmos, and more.
In case you missed it last year, Esquire has gone ahead and reprinted Ernest Hemingway’s hamburger recipe, complete with a link to The Paris Review post from last year that also teaches you how to make the ever important seasoning. The only reason I’m telling you this is because I tried to make the burgers a few months back, and they were actually pretty delicious. So in the event that you missed out last time around, here is your chance […]
As literary blog subjects go, Hemingway is a loaded one. He’s fish in a barrel. Hell, he’s frozen fish sticks that someone’s already browned golden in a toaster oven on Christmas morn, then re-placed in the barrel like some woefully inept Santa. Hemingway has always existed: when you depict him, you might as well be describing the concept of “uncles”, or “varnish”, or “premature ejaculation.” He is ageless and forever. Among his many virtues, Hemingway is oft-remembered as a sports […]
Ernest Hemingway’s reporting for the Toronto Star. (Via The Rumpus) John Updike: great dresser. Have you had a chance to check out Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading? Will interviews with Patti Smith ever get old? The answer is a big NOPE. That obviously includes this interview between Smith and Melissa Giannini of Spin. EvilReads has your official BEA party guide (including the Bookrageous party we’re co-sponsoring along with some other fantastic folks). OWS sues NYC. Follow Vol. 1 Brooklyn on Twitter, Facebook, Google + and our Tumblr.