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Articles by Brian Etling
Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Walter, Bazawule, Bourne, and More
Here's a quick look at some notable books-new titles from Jess Walter, Blitz Bazawule, our own Michael Bourne, and more-that are publishing this week. Want to learn more about upcoming titles? Then go read our most recent book preview. Want to help The Millions keep churning out great books coverage? Then become a member today.
Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Brooks, Newman, Taddeo, and More
Here's a quick look at some notable books-new titles from Geraldine Brooks, Sandra Newman, Lisa Taddeo, and more-that are publishing this week. Want to learn more about upcoming titles? Then go read our most recent book preview. Want to help The Millions keep churning out great books coverage? Then become a member today.
Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Crosley, Gayle, Fajardo-Anstine, and More
Here's a quick look at some notable books-new titles from Sloane Crosley, Caleb Gayle, Kali Fajardo-Anstine, and more-that are publishing this week. Want to learn more about upcoming titles? Then go read our most recent book preview. Want to help The Millions keep churning out great books coverage? Then become a member today. Here's what Publishers Weekly had to say about Cult Classic: "Crosley () offers a witty and fantastical story of dating and experimental psychology in New York City.
Characters on Fire with Sandra Cisneros
At World Literature Today, Sandra Cisneros discusses her forthcoming poetry collection, Woman Without Shame, and why she is attracted to writing about characters and stories with an urgent quality. "I write about people whose lives are on fire," she says. "If you think of people you love who are living in houses on fire, would you run in and save them? Yes, you would risk your own being. So, I think about people whose lives are on fire. Maybe you know them so well. Maybe you lived in that house once.
The Banning of 'Persepolis' Spawns a New Legacy
reports on the history of book banning and censorship in relation to Marjane Satrapi's influencial graphic novel, Persepolis. Its legacy continues in an upcoming graphic nonfiction work called Wake Now In the Fire, written by Jarrett Dapier and illustrated by AJ Dungo.
Janice Lee Explores the Worldview of a Sentence
At , Janice Lee explores story structures at the sentence level, as seen in her recent novel, Imagine a Death. "We often glean meaning from the overall structure of a story, the narrative shape revealing something about subjects like reality, transformation, life and death. But before the story, there is the sentence. Across cultures and languages, the subject/object and noun/verb relationships we see in English are neither universal nor inherent.
Maia Kobabe on Fighting to Reach Marginalized Readers
At , Maia Kobabe discusses writing Gender Queer, a memoir about self-acceptance and understanding, which has been challenged in schools and libraries across the country in recent months. "What I'm learning is that a book challenge is like a community attacking itself," Kobabe says. "The people who are hurt in a challenge are the marginalized readers in the community where the challenge takes place.
The Life and Fashions of Elena Ferrante
At , Hannah Gold takes a closer look at the role fashion plays in the novels of Elena Ferrante as instigators of action and deep symbolism. "In a Ferrante novel you don't get a lot of florid descriptions of faces, descriptions of outfits, or definitive judgements of beauty," Gold writes. "Yet in every one of her books at least one fashion accessory or item becomes deeply enmeshed in its plot and imbued with a flagrant symbolism.
Lucy Scholes on the Controlled Elegance of Edith Templeton
At the Paris Review, Lucy Scholes takes a closer look at the early novels of Edith Templeton, in which inflexible matriarchal figures are cast against society's expectations. "In a society in which impressions are critical, nothing is ever quite as it seems; in Templeton's novels, a polished exterior inevitably obscures a grubbier truth," Scholes writes.
Meghan O'Rourke on Pivoting From the Lyrical to the Technical
At the Chicago Review of Books, Meghan O'Rourke discusses The Invisible Kingdom, a mix of memoir and research that investigates chronic illness through multiple lenses. "My work as a poet helped shape this book," she explains. "I didn't want it to be merely a work of reportage; I wanted to convey the lived experience, the sense of searching for language to contain the murk and the mess. That all had to be there. So I knew from the beginning that it would be both of those things.
Namwali Serpell Revisits Toni Morrison's 'Sula'
At the Paris Review, Namwali Serpell reflects on the lasting legacy of Toni Morrison 's landmark novel, . "The paradox of Sula is that she's quintessentially herself-nobody is like her-but she's also everybody we know who is like that," Serpell writes. "This paradox takes shape in different ways in Sula, in the novel's preoccupations with ironic oppositions, with how the individual self-relates to the collective, with the dynamic relation between order and disorder.
Weike Wang Lets Readers in with Humor
At , Weike Wang discusses her second novel, Joan Is Okay, which follows an ICU doctor who uses her love of sytems and her deadpan humor to navigate grief and loss. "Humor is a coping mechanism," Wang says. "Humor keeps the door open for readers to come in. I was in science for most of my 20s, and the stereotype of people like us was that we are robotic or we have no feelings, which is wholly not true.
Xochitl Gonzalez, Wedding Planner Turned Novelist
By Kate Gavino,Nick Moran,Emily Colette Wilkinson,Brian Etling,Kaulie Lewis,Rhian Sasseen,Kirstin Butler,Garth Risk Hallberg At the New York Times, Xochitl Gonzalez discusses her debut novel, Olga Dies Dreaming, and how her years as a wedding planner prepared her to write a novel. "I have a problem-solving brain and there's a certain amout of novel-writing that I find to be problem-solving," Gonzalez says.
What Does It Take to Be a Competitive Scrabble Player?
At Literary Hub, Oliver Roeder talks about his passion for the classic word game and his stint as a competitive player. He discusses his childhood love of the game, the fun of anagramming, and the best practices used in preparation for competitions. "Scrabble's top players are people who can memorize coded information and quickly turn it into ordered meaning," Roeder says. "Most players study with the help of a computer program; Zyzzyva ("The Last Word in Word Study") is the most popular.
An Archive of Artist Deaths at the Met
At Literary Hub, Jim Moske, an archivist at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, writes a fascinating piece on the scrapbooks of Arturo B. de St. M. D'Hervilly, who was hired by The Met in 1894 as an office clerk. D'Hervilly's macabre archive tells of the deaths of painters, photographers and other artists in the 20th century via a collection of faded ink and scraps of paper in various stages of decay.
Writing as Meditation with Ruth Ozeki
At the New York Times, Ruth Ozeki speaks to Ezra Klein about her latest novel, The Book of Form and Emptiness, and how she used meditation practices to get into the mind of her characters. "Very often meditation is something that we think of as being done with the mind," Ozeki explains. "And I actually experience it somewhat differently. I experience it as something that starts in the body and is really rooted in the body.And I think that's true for writing too.
Daphne Palasi Andreades Seeks Deeper Truths from Fiction
At Pen America, Daphne Palasi Andreades discusses her debut novel, Brown Girls, and why stories remain an essential part of her life. "Stories have helped me understand myself and the world more deeply," she says. "They've allowed me to feel less alone, taught me new things, helped me consider other perspectives; they've sparked my imagination, transported me to other places and times.
The Joy of Writing Real Human Beings with Jean Chen Ho
At BOMB Magazine, Jean Chen Ho discusses her new novel, Fiona and Jane, which follows a friendship between two women over the course of decades. "Even though they're not real or based on people in my life," she says, "I think the characters invoke communities that I've been lucky enough to be a part of. I'm also not a big 'representation matters' person. To have representation is something. But it's more important to me to just think of my characters as individuals and real human beings.
Sequoia Nagamatsu Explores the Full Spectrum of Grief
At the Star Tribune, Sequoia Nagamatsu discusses his debut novel, How High We Go in the Dark, which explores what happens when a virus is unleashed on the planet. Surprisingly, the book does contain moments of humor amid the darkness. "When you're talking about a tragic event or having lost somebody," Nagamatsu explains, "you're going to cry but you're also going to laugh. I wanted to acknowledge that the full spectrum of emotions is going to be there."
Jami Attenberg on Building a Writing Life
At the , Jami Attenberg, author of the recent memoir I Came All This Way to Meet You, reflects on how a key moment of rejection allowed her to carve out her own path as a writer. "I'm old enough to realise that there is one more important part to carving out your creative life: honouring your successes no matter the size," Attenberg writes. "And honouring the bad moments too. Laying your burdens down.
Constantly Reading, Constantly Changing with Eloisa James
By Kate Gavino,Bruna Dantas Lobato,Brian Etling,Kaulie Lewis,Thom Beckwith,Emily M. Keeler,Kirstin Butler At the Creative Independent, romance novelist and Shakespeare professor Eloisa James (whose real name is Mary Bly) discusses how she keeps her writing process fresh, whether it's for her bestselling romance novels or academic texts. "If you're going to have a long career in writing," she explains, "you need to be constantly reading in your genre. What you're going to write is going to change.
My Many Selves - The Millions
“What I’ve found is that a lot of soldiers are surprisingly apolitical.
Jenny Offill and Jia Tolentino on Being Doomers at the Dinner Party
At the virtual Charleston to Charleston Literary Festival, Trick Mirror author Jia Tolentino interviewed Jenny Offill about research, writing, climate change, and her latest novel, . The conversation is thrilling, in part because they pause to celebrate the just-announced election results, but also because the two writers and their sense of curiosity are so well matched.
Seeing Red - The Millions
Last semester, at UC Riverside, the novelist Susan Straight began the class “Mixed-Race Literature and the American Experience” with a simple question: “How many of you are often asked, What are you?” In an essay about the class, she relates what they learned, which includes the observation that hair is weirdly important in America. (Related: The Millions published an essay by Straight on Toni Morrison's Sula. )
No Getting Without Giving
If Claudia Rankine writes it, it’s safe to say I’d recommend it. Here she is in a long, lovely essay on Adrienne Rich and her poetic transformations. Brian Etling is an intern for The Millions. He reads and resides in North Carolina. Brian can be found on Twitter @jbetling, and in the real world behind the counter of Scuppernong Books in Greensboro, NC.
Chelsea Girl - The Millions
Is Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life a Great American Gay Novel? According to Garth Greenwell, the book -- which came out in March -- is one of the most ambitious gay novels to come out in years. At The Atlantic, he makes a case that the book is a classic of its kind. You could also read Christopher Richards on Frank O’Hara’s lessons for gay men.
Do You Hear A Cricket?
“Once [Jenny] Diski did get going as a writer, she and [Doris] Lessing agreed to a kind of literary nonaggression pact: Lessing would not write about Diski if Diski would not write about Lessing. Even now, I sensed a note of anxiety in Diski’s attitude toward her current project. When I asked her if she had any titles in mind for the finished work, she said: ‘Gratitude.’ Or: ‘Ingratitude.’ I can’t decide which.’”
It Was Happening
“Stop smoking, first of all, and then don’t hold your breath, don’t cough, do not for any reason pick up heavy packages, boxes, suitcases. Never lean over, or dive headfirst into water. The carnal throes of passion were forbidden, because even an ardent kiss could cause my veins to burst.” At long last, Lina Meruane’s semi-autobiographical novel Seeing Red has been published in English.
Writing By Heart - The Millions
Hats off to our own Edan Lepucki for being named a Face to Watch by the LA Times! In an article, David L. Ulin says Edan’s upcoming novel is “steeped in southern California narrative tradition” and describes how a drive along Sunset Boulevard inspired the setting of the book. (You can catch up on Edan's work by looking through her archive.)
A More Sinister Effect - The Millions
A More Sinister Effect By Brian Etling posted at 10:00 am on February 21, 2016 0 It’s not always a given that good people make good characters. Over at The Atlantic, Tony Tulathimutte explains how none other than one Philip Roth taught him the importance of showing every aspect of your characters–even the bad ones.
The Millions : Best Illustrated Children's Books
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The Great (Literary) Depression - The Millions
By Brian Etling posted at 10:41 pm on September 17, 2016 0 “Ageists who want to fault millennials for the continual decline in literary reading are wrong to do so. Across the board, there wasn’t much considerable variation in the amount literature age groups read. Everyone is hanging out in the 39–49% range.” Is America in the midst of a literary recession?
Wonders of Wonderbook - The Millions
Wonders of Wonderbook By Brian Etling posted at 11:00 am on August 27, 2016 0 This one goes out to all the visual learners out there. Here’s a helpful, illustrated guide to writing scenes and stories with Jeff VanderMeer, author of the bestselling Southern Reach Trilogy. Bonus: here’s an interview by VanderMeer with author Richard House from earlier this year. Share this article More from the Millions Post a Response Comments with unrelated links will be deleted.
The Millions : Who Wrote What? - The Millions
Who Wrote What? By Brian Etling posted at 11:30 am on July 18, 2016 0 Do you want to work at The Strand in New York City? Think you have what it takes? Take this famous quiz and match each work with its author to see if you have the literary chops to pick up a paycheck from one of the United States’s most beloved bookstores. Share this article More from the Millions Post a Response Comments with unrelated links will be deleted.
The Millions : RIP Elie Wiesel - The Millions
By Brian Etling posted at 9:10 am on July 3, 2016 0 Elie Wiesel — Auschwitz survivor, Nobel Laureate, political activist, and author of Night — passed away yesterday at the age of 87. Here’s a quote that perfectly captures Wiesel’s essence, from his Nobel Prize acceptance speech: “I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.
Artistic Solitude
By Brian Etling posted at 2:30 pm on June 25, 2016 0 “I used to run cross country in high school and it was like, I knew if I put in a certain kind of training, it was going to make me faster. If X, then Y. But with writing, it’s like, if X, if I do this thing that’s necessary, which is giving myself the space and time, then what? It’s sort of a question mark. You have no idea.
The Millions : The Paper Trail - The Millions
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Minister of Defense and Propaganda of the New Cinema
Minister of Defense and Propaganda of the New Cinema By Brian Etling posted at 1:00 pm on June 6, 2016 0 Recommended Reading: On the the anticriticism of Jonas Mekas, the “raving maniac of the cinema,” courtesy of The Paris Review. Share this article More from the Millions Post a Response Comments with unrelated links will be deleted. If you'd like to reach our readers, consider buying an advertisement instead.
Parting Is Blah Blah Blah
By Brian Etling posted at 1:00 pm on May 28, 2016 0 Say goodbye to Sadie Stein! Stein, who is moving on after two years as The Paris Review Daily’s correspondent, had this to say: “It is a strange thing to monetize your emotions. Anyone who writes or creates knows this. And the work one does on the Internet feels insubstantial, even by the flimsy standards of intellectual property.
The Millions : Down South
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Berlin Stories, Redux
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Slanting Light and Seedy Motels
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Your a Real Jerk
By Brian Etling posted at 11:30 am on April 23, 2016 0 “It’s somewhat surprising that typos and grammatical errors hold this much power given the speed and frequency of written communication that characterizes the digital age. Despite our ‘sent from my iPhone’ disclaimers, it appears we should still be diligent about avoiding written mistakes. Especially if were writing to a conscientious introvert whose not very agreeable.
Do You Hear A Cricket?
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Let the Rain Kiss You
By Brian Etling posted at 2:30 pm on April 3, 2016 1 “The half-stripped trees / struck by a wind together, / bending all, / snapping before the power of… / thundersnow? / Oh shit, do you see that? / Thundersnow!” It’s safe to say that William Carlos Williams would have been blown away by thundersnow. Here are a few other classic poems helpfully reimagined for the climate change age.
Everything That Rises Must Be Filmed
By Brian Etling posted at 2:30 pm on February 1, 2016 0 Recommended Listening: this episode of the Ryder + Flye podcast in which Jason Diamond and Margaret Eby discuss Southern Catholicism, 70s cinema, and why it’s so darn hard to make Flannery O’Connor’s stories work on the screen.
The Realities of a Tiny House
By Brian Etling posted at 2:30 pm on January 30, 2016 0 “AYN: This house was built in 1835 but, as you can see, the antiquated design elements suggest the work of a second-rate architect in love with the past who never had an original thought in his wasted life.” Go check out the newest episode of Ayn Rand’s Objectivist House Hunters at McSweeney’s.
Act 266, Scene 6
By Brian Etling posted at 11:30 am on January 30, 2016 0 How do you turn a 900-page novel into a play? You make it five hours long, that’s how. Roberto Bolaño’s classic 2666 is headed for the stage.
Alas, Poor Everyone
Amidst all the controversy surrounding Go Set a Watchman, one question that gets left out is how realistic, exactly, the book is in its depiction of its setting. At Salon, Scott Timberg sits down with Professor Angela Thorburg, who makes a case that regardless of its literary qualities, Watchman is “a very accurate perspective of what’s going on here in the South.”
Fifty Shades Again
By Brian Etling posted at 10:00 am on January 2, 2016 0 Believe it or not, Fifty Shades of Grey was still the bestselling book of 2015. For a fascinating, in-depth look at what sold and what didn’t, head over to The Guardian. The disconnect between the retail top ten and the myriad year-end lists alone is worth the look.
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