Required Reading: September 18, 2015

Required Reading: September 18, 2015

“Required Reading” is an ongoing series in which we write about what has captured our attention lately on and outside the web.

Let’s get right to it:

Capria got a kick out of a recent article in The Daily Beast: “Ivy League Professor Gives Students the Alf Test.” She writes:

I had to laugh because I LOVED Alf as a kid and it seems so obvious and crazy that the current college students wouldn’t even know who Alf is. I was also struck by the fact that being asked to do something, especially something we don’t understand the reason for, sets us on a journey and it is through that exploration that we learn something important about the world and ourselves.  I can’t think of a better reason to go to college than that and it makes me happy to know that along the way these students are connecting with a little bit of my own silly history.”

And as for me, well, it’s been a good week for Internet finds. I’m newly enamored with Blunderbuss Magazine’s “Topography of a Novel Series,” in which authors describe not just their writing process, which includes “notes, sketches, research, drafts,” but also the “flotsam” that goes into their work. In the most recent installment, Alexandra Kleeman lets us peek at her day-writing desk and her night-writing kitchen table. She confesses to a love for eggo waffles and string cheese, stating that “my main snacks when I work are fast, round (or semi-round) and repetitive).” Essentially, the series feeds my desire to know all the boring, tiny details of people’s lives – a desire that usually finds its outlet in long realist novels.

I  loved Alison Gopnik’s “How an 18th-Century Philosophy Helped Me Solve My Mid-Life Crisis” so much I read it twice. It’s a wide-ranging essay, beginning with a divorce and multiple heartbreaks, moving to depression, settling in with philosophy and then attempting to solve a mystery: how on earth did 18th-century philosopher David Hume come across Buddhist thought? The answer demonstrates that the Enlightenment was far more global than we typically imagine it was.

From 'A New Geographical, Historical, and Commercial Grammar' 23rd edition, William Guthrie, 1819 [Public Domain] via British Library Flickr

From ‘A New Geographical, Historical and Commercial Grammar’ 23rd edition, William Guthrie, 1819 [Public Domain] via British Library Flickr

Elsewhere:

David Westcott’s article on literary Darwinism, cage fighting and the academy is fascinating.

Jezebel covers the 15th annual Jane Austen Festival in Bath.

Humans of New York brings us a rare book librarian, a man who describes himself as a “Defender of Wonder.” I agree.

Mira Jacob, author of A Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing, gave a keynote address on race and publishing–and no one listened. But her words deserve attention.

Long-time fan of This American Life and RadioLab? Couldn’t get enough of Serial? Jessica Abel’s new podcast unpacks what makes their stories so effective–and gives good advice on how you can makes yours as compelling. A must listen.

Further Reading:

“Your Duck is My Duck,” Never Let Me Go and madwomen in the attic.

Philosophical Meditations, road trips and great migrations.

Walking, New American Short Stories and a Cleveland anthology.

Image: Barthélemy d’Eyck, Still Life with Books in a Niche, c.1442-45, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Amsterdam [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons


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Cecily Erin Hill

Cecily Erin Hill

Cecily Hill is the Project Director, NEH for All at the National Humanities Alliance and former member of the Books@Work team.