Lit Hub Daily: September 25, 2020
THE BEST OF THE LITERARY INTERNET
TODAY: In 1960, Emily Post, famous for writing about etiquette, dies.
- There is something foul about speaking of Breonna Taylor’s death “in the Greek sense.” In which Aaron Robertson responds to a very bad Tweet. | Lit Hub Politic
- “From the outset, Eisenhower reshaped the presidency in the service of the struggle against the Soviets.” Tim Weiner on early days of the Cold War. | Lit Hub History
- “If you have a tool, it can seem a shame not to use it. This was the case with war gases handed over to police forces during the Civil Rights Movement.” Frank A. von Hippel on how chemicals of war became “chemicals of peace.” | Lit Hub History
- “The American literary ghosts I love most aren’t psychological shadows—they are solid enough to slam doors.” Amy Shearn on her favorite spectral characters. | Lit Hub
- 35 essential works of fiction by Iranian writers: Niloufar Talebi on writing and publishing beyond stereotypes. | Lit Hub
- “Sounds like Laura Palmer went to UCLA and wrote melancholy love poems in her dorm.” Actual poets review Lana Del Rey’s new poetry collection. | VICE
- Harold Evans, the towering British journalist, author, and one-time publisher of Random House, has died at 92. | The New York Times
- “This enjoyment, this recognition, is for her the revolution. It’s in your face. Sometimes it’s a protest. Sometimes it’s just feeling free.” Claudia Rankine profiled Lizzo, proving there is still some good in the world. | Vogue
- “Raising my mallet high, I bashed the green husk.” Vanessa Hua on nut harvesting’s lessons of patience and determination. | San Francisco Chronicle
- For Sigrid Nunez, writing without the pressure of widespread popularity allowed her to “develop anonymously as a writer.” | The Economist
- “We should look anew at 1920 not because centenaries have magical properties but because Fitzgerald’s remarkably sensitive inner ear helped him register, before almost anyone else, when America started losing its balance.” On F. Scott Fitzgerald, the oracle of our spiritual malaise. | NYRB
- The Artist Relief Fund, which has raised $20 million since April, has extended its application deadline to December 2020. | Hyperallergic
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