Page 3 - Michael Gorra News Today

Philip Roth 2002 (Dennis Van Tine/ABACAPRESS.COM) The reviews of Blake Bailey’s Philip Roth: The Biography have been pouring out on both sides of the Atlantic. What is striking is how badly written the British ones have been and how smart the American ones are. What makes the British reviews so much worse? First, the bizarre omissions. Tim Adams’s review in The Observer of Bailey’s biography doesn’t use the words “Jew” or “Jewish” once. This is extraordinary. No...

Opinion: In the South, the pen is mighty CNN 3/16/2021 © Maude Scuyler Clay A Mississippi Delta cotton field. Last year, the late Randall Kenan spoke at the University of Mississippi about his work as a writer and the role of the writer in society. Kenan said, "for a community to change they have to understand the devastation they are wreaking on certain people." Yes, Georgia flipped blue because of a massive voter enfranchisement effort. But I like to think that it was also the groundbr...

Your Tuesday Briefing Harry and Meghan interview, the latest moves by Myanmar’s military to expand its control and global warming in the tropics. Image Meghan and Harry’s bombshell interview Hours after the interview was broadcast in the U.S. on Sunday, Britain was already grappling with the shock wave rippling out across the Atlantic, exposing a deep royal rift. For many Black Britons, in particular, the interview offered a scathing assessment of the royal family and resurfaced barely su...

Amherst College’s LitFest: A virtual weekend of young literary lights Charles Yu, winner of the 2020 National Book Award for fiction, is part of LitFest 2021. Image courtesy LitFest Charles Yu’s “Interior Chinatown” has been described by one critic as a “sharply observed, darkly humorous evocation of the Asian American experience.” Megha Majumbar, a semi-finalist for a 2020 National Book Award, will speak at LitFest 2021. Image courtesy LitFest 2021 Megha Majumbar’s debut novel, ...

William Faulkner’s civil war: New book by Michael Gorra takes fresh look at seminal writer Michael Gorra, author of a new book about William Faulkner, at his home in Northampton. The Smith College professor says Faulkner remains an important voice today for examining racial conflicts in the U.S. STAFF PHOTO/JERREY ROBERTS Michael Gorra, author of a new book about William Faulkner, at his home in Northampton. The Smith College professor says Faulkner remains an important voice today for exa...