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Articles by Cara DuBois
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.
Mai Al-Nakib and the Power of Not Belonging
At Electric Literature, Mai Al-Nakib discusses her debut novel, An Unlasting Home, a family saga that follows generations of women across Kuwait, the U.S., India, and more. "There is a degree of empowerment in not belonging; it allows you to pivot and to create possibilities for yourself that are often fruitful," she says.
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.
Art Is Not a Neutral Act
At Crime Reads, Grace D. Li discusses her debut novel, Portrait of a Thief, which follows a group of Chinese Americans as they pull off a heist to reclaim priceless Chinese art. "It can be all too easy to view art as a neutral act, or museums as institutions that solely preserve history instead of shape it," she says. "In Portrait of a Thief, I wanted to challenge the presence of looted art in museums.
Constantly Questioning with Tana├"s
At the Creative Independent, Tanaïs discusses their expansive memoir, In Sensorium: Notes for My People, in which they examine alternate histories and universes of memories and scent. "I think that community building is really important and I think it's also equally as important to distinguish your own voice and your own mind from that community," they say.
Combining a Murder Mystery and Immigrant Family Story with Jane Pek
At Public Libraries Online, Jane Pek discusses her debut novel, The Verifiers, which follows Claudia Lin, an amateur sleuth who investigates the potential suitors of lovelorn New Yorkers. "When I read, above all it's about becoming invested in the character," Pek explains. "Once I'm invested, I'll follow them anywhere. When I started writing Claudia, I knew that I wanted to write a character that readers would feel invested in in the same way.
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.
Sofi Thanhauser's Sweeping History of Getting Dressed
At The Guardian, Kathryn Hughes reviews Sofi Thanhauser's , a wide-ranging exploration of the materials our clothes are made of and how they impact our daily lives and the planet.
An Examination of the Trauma Plot
AtThe New Yorker, Parul Sehgal reflects on the trauma plot and how it has come to dominate stories both on the page and on screen. Sehgal argues that "The trauma plot flattens, distorts, reduces character to symptom, and, in turn, instructs and insists upon its moral authority. The solace of its simplicity comes at no little cost.
Ciao, Napoli - The Millions
Have you ever wanted to take a road trip like Dean Moriarty and Sal Paradise? You can now. Gregor Weichbrodt used Google Maps to write directions for On The Road's famous 7,527-mile drive. Choose your companions wisely, so you don't get stuck with dysentery in Mexico.
Happy Birthday, Baldwin
A while back, I wrote about Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher, which may be the first novel in history written entirely in the form of recommendation letters. Now, at The Rumpus, Anjali Enteti sits down with Schumacher, who talks about writing by hand, the adjunct crisis, and why it’s okay that so many people are getting MFAs. You could also read our own Nick Ripatrazone on why MFA grads should teach high school.
The Starship Lands - The Millions
“Many of the most powerful characters in our best-loved stories are orphaned, adopted, fostered, or found. At the same time, many of the most powerless citizens in our society are orphaned, adopted, or fostered children, and the marginalized adults that so many become. Why have so few of us even noticed this centuries-old disparity?” On literature’s most celebrated protagonists, from Oliver Twist to Anne of Green Gables.
The Millions : Losing It
Losing It By Cara DuBois posted at 4:00 pm on August 11, 2016 0 Check out an excerpt of Losing It by Emma Rathbone at Lit Hub, which our own Tess Malone recently reviewed. 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. Anonymous and pseudonymous comments that do not add to the conversation will be deleted at our discretion.
Curiosities Archives - The Millions
Over at The Week, Jeva Lange recommends books based on where your travels are taking you this summer. For other recommended reading, don’t miss our Great Second-Half Book Preview. The summer issue of Moss is out, featuring the opening chapters of our own Sonya Chung’s forthcoming novel, The Loved Ones. For more more of her writing, check out her Millions essay on breaking up with books. Our own Lydia Kiesling writes for The New Yorker about workplace fiction by women.
James Alan McPherson Passes Away
By Cara DuBois posted at 11:21 am on July 28, 2016 0 Pulitzer Prize-winning author James Alan McPherson has passed away at 72. His anthology Elbow Room won the Pulitzer for fiction in 1978. He was one of the first individuals to receive a genius grant from the MacArthur Foundation. He graduated from Harvard Law school, but instead decided to pursue writing and later earned an MFA from the Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa, where he was a professor emeritus.
The Millions : Branching Out
Branching Out By Cara DuBois posted at 1:30 pm on July 14, 2016 0 So you’ve read Haruki Murakami. Ready to venture into other Japanese literature? Ploughshares has recommendations for you. We reviewed a few of Murakami’s books if you’d like to read further. 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.
The Millions : Nevermind
Comments with unrelated links will be deleted. If you'd like to reach our readers, consider buying an advertisement instead. Anonymous and pseudonymous comments that do not add to the conversation will be deleted at our discretion.
The Millions : Writerly Advice - The Millions
By Cara DuBois posted at 10:30 am on July 1, 2016 0 Maria Popova has compiled famous author’s advice on writing, a perfect resource to pair with Marcia Desanctis‘s essay “There Is No Handbook For Being a Writer”.
Ahead of His Time
By Cara DuBois posted at 2:30 pm on June 2, 2016 0 “Adrianne [Lobel] suspects that there’s another dimension to the series’s sustained popularity. Frog and Toad are ‘of the same sex, and they love each other,’ she told me. ‘It was quite ahead of its time in that respect.’ In 1974, four years after the first book in the series was published, [Arnold] Lobel came out to his family as gay.” On love and Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad.
50 Favorite Fictional Women
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The Millions : Moving On
By Cara DuBois posted at 4:00 pm on April 14, 2016 0 Our editor Lydia Kiesling writes at The Cut about throwing away her senior prom dress. For more of her thoughts on femininity and growing up, read her piece about beauty and her daughter.
Elena Ferrante Writing for Kids
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Lovecraft’s Disappearing Act
By Cara DuBois posted at 1:30 pm on March 24, 2016 0 A manuscript by H.P. Lovecraft has recently been re-discovered among a collection of magic memorabilia. The book was “an investigation of superstition through the ages” commissioned by Harry Houdini. (Maybe all of this magic had something to do with its disappearing act?)
Flournoy on Ellison
By Cara DuBois posted at 4:00 pm on March 4, 2016 0 Year in Reading alum Angela Flournoy writes about Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man for the National Book Foundation. “I return to Invisible Man often because it accomplishes so many things at once, but never at the sake of intelligent, moving storytelling.” Pair with our interview with Flournoy.
Atwood Re-tells Shakespeare
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Burroughs’ Selected Letters
By Cara DuBois posted at 2:30 pm on January 28, 2016 0 Recommended Reading: The selected letters of William S. Burroughs at The Paris Review Daily. Read his correspondences with family and writers Allen Ginsberg and Norman Mailer. Pair with Jonathan Clarke’s article on why an author’s biography will never be more important than their writing.
On Kenny’s Window
By Cara DuBois posted at 1:30 pm on January 15, 2016 0 Maria Popova writes about Kenny’s Window, Maurice Sendak’s “debut as a storyteller.” Our own Emily Collette Wilkinson reflected on Sendak’s vision upon his passing.
Reading Lists Amended
By Cara DuBois posted at 12:00 pm on January 7, 2016 0 Remember when Esquire released their not-so-great list of eighty books every man should read? Well, they have amended their list to eighty books every person should read, asking advice from “eight female literary powerhouses” including Roxane Gay, Michiko Kakutani and Lauren Groff. Our own Janet Potter recommends twenty-eight books you should read if you want to.
The Price of Black Ambition
By Cara DuBois posted at 12:00 pm on December 4, 2015 0 “I have come to realize how much I have, throughout my life, bought into the narrative of this alluring myth of personal responsibility and excellence. I realize how much I believe that all good things will come if I—if we—just work hard enough.” Year in Reading alum Roxane Gay writes for VQR Online about “The Price of Black Ambition.” Pair with our review of An Untamed State.
Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs
By Cara DuBois posted at 10:30 am on November 27, 2015 0 Year in Reading alum Maria Popova of Brain Pickings writes her first book review for The New York Times on Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs by Lisa Randall, a Harvard cosmologist. Randall proposes ”that a thin disk of dark matter in the plane of the Milky Way triggered a minor perturbation in deep space that caused the major earthly catastrophe that decimated the dinosaurs.” Jenny Hendrix writes about modern-day extinction for The Millions.
The Millions : From Chernobyl
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Serialized Storytelling
By Cara DuBois posted at 10:30 am on October 15, 2015 0 Novelist Joshua Cohen is writing a story online with a live audience for five hours a day this week. Today is the fourth day of his project, and he’ll be writing live from 1PM to 6PM. Read more at Atlas Obscura.
Memoir and Literature
By Cara DuBois posted at 4:00 pm on October 2, 2015 0 “I’ve always loved memoir, but it’s still seen as such a trashy genre and I wanted to speak to it as actual literature because that’s how it feels to me.” Mary Karr sits down with The Rumpus to discuss The Art of Memoir. We recently posted an excerpt from and a review of the book.
Infographic of the Week: Yoga for Writers
By Cara DuBois posted at 4:00 pm on September 17, 2015 0 Infographic of the Week: Electric Lit’s Yoga for Writers. Try the Accepted Story Pose or the Plot Twist. Pair with our own Sonya Chung’s essay on healthiness and writing.
The Millions : On Migration
By Cara DuBois posted at 1:30 pm on September 11, 2015 0 Granta asks their contributors what it means to be a migrant or a refugee in light of the crisis in Europe. Twenty-eight authors respond in visual media, personal essays, and poems. You could also read our migrations book list for more perspectives.
Poison in the Plot
By Cara DuBois posted at 2:30 pm on September 10, 2015 0 Agatha Christie could actually kill you. She studied pharmacology and learned how to create poisons, which led to her use of poisons in her novels. You could also read Daniel Friedman’s essay on solving the mystery of how to close a crime novel.
Back to the Bookstore
By Cara DuBois posted at 2:30 pm on August 27, 2015 0 The Guardian reports that Kinokuniya, a Japanese book chain, has bought 90 percent of the print run of Haruki Murakami’s latest essay collection, Novelist As a Vocation, to be released September 10th in Japan. The company hopes to bring more customers back into bookstores. Need more Murakami? Read our review of The Strange Library.
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