Ann Roiphe (Art and Madness, A Memoir of Lust Without Reason, 2011) willingly gives up everything for art in the 1950’s when she is just in her twenties.

The author of The Talented Mr. Ripley series, and other diabolical crime mysteries had talent indeed, and an eccentric personality to match. The 2009 biography of Patricia Highsmith written by Joan Schenkar, entitled The Talented Miss Highsmith, attests to these facts.

If you believe Lin Yutang, author of The Importance of Living, man is a curious wayward dreamer who is furiously pursuing all the wrong things. Yutang has a very specific philosophy for living life which will bring genuine contentment, and he begins with the idea of detachment, which is similar to Buddhist philosophy.

Electric Literature is a new literary magazine that seeks to reinvigorate the short story through e-publishing, mobile technology, and social media. With the amazing short story collections that have been published this year, from Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It by Maile Meloy to Alice Munro’s Too Much Happiness, it would seem that Electric Literature is perfectly positioned for the resurgence of the contemporary short story.

TopOfBlogs Real Time Web Analytics