Listicles, tweets, your ex’s Facebook status, picture of dogs wearing costumes — the internet offers no shortage of entertaining stuff to look at. But there’s plenty of substantial writing out there, too, the pieces you spend a few minutes reading and a long time thinking about after you’ve closed the tab. In this weekly feature, Flavorwire shares the best of that category. This week: Shteyngart blurbs again, Walter Kirn vs. Nathaniel Rich, and more.
Exploring the 1950 “Spring Books” issue of The Nation, Richard Kreitner
Us book nerds love this type of thing. With The Nation‘s new books issue coming out, they dug into the archives to give us some highlights from their 1950 books issue.
“Who’s the Con Artist?” Walter Kirn and Nathaniel Rich, The New York Review of Books
Walter Kirn wasn’t all that happy that Nathaniel Rich accused him of “conning” his readers with Blood Will Out, so he wrote a letter to the editor. Then Rich responded to that…
“How To Fall Asleep: A Step-By-Step Guide” by Mallory Ortberg, The Toast
Mallory Ortberg proves, once again, that she’s a contender for the voice of her generation.
Gary Shteyngart does some improv blurbing
Hey may have stepped down from his position as the most prolific book blurber on the planet, but that doesn’t mean Gary Shteyngart won’t blurb your horrible books if you put him on the spot.
Trying to pick one favorite from Open Culture on a weekly basis is difficult, but watching the French New Wave director read Hannah Arendt is pretty great.