Unferth’s Memoir Manifesto, Jaded Ibis Interviewed, and More Literary Links

Some interesting book links around the web:

- Deb Olin Unferth, author of the new memoir Revolution, has published a memoir manifesto at Guernica. The feature includes Clancy Martin discussing early sexual experiences, Rozalia Jovanovic meeting but not wanting to meet a famous poet, and contributions from Joshua Cohen, Antonia Blair, and Porochista Khakpour. This is an exciting feature all around!

- Also at Guernica, a new interview with Arundhati Roy.

- McSweeneys.net posts “Some Good News From the World of Books“:

“The good news is that there isn’t as much bad news as popularly assumed. In fact, almost all of the news is good, and most of it is very good. Book sales are up, way up, from twenty years ago. Young adult readership is far wider and deeper than ever before. Library membership and circulation is at all-time high. The good news goes on and on.”

- Another nice sign for publishing: indie press Jaded Ibis gets a full interview in Forbes magazine.

- In more troubling publishing news, VIDA’s has posted its charts on the gender gap in publishing. The issues here are many and complex, but that is all the more reason that the discussion needs to be had. Kudos to VIDA for getting it started. I may weigh in with a few thoughts soon, but I wanted to point out two good responses: Laura Miller at Salon, and Meghan O’Rourke at Slate.

- The Rumpus is looking for more Rumpus Reader Reports: “Please send your submissions, maximum 400 words, to Susan Clements, silentjoy2001 AT yahoo.com. We’ll choose the best ones to run as a feature on the site.”

- Flavorwire illustrates Herman Melville’s 25 Words for Beards.

- NY-obsessed novelist Jonathan Lethem seems glad he moved to southern California—”Brooklyn is repulsive with novelists, it’s cancerous with novelists”—yet can’t shake the city. His next novel is set in 1950s Queens.

- Lastly, some exciting news for Bolano lovers: The Paris Review is serializing The Third Reich in their spring issue.

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