The New York Times pays homage to Tin House, the innovative literary journal run by Elissa Schappell and Rob Spillman that, after twenty years, will publish its final, 400-page issue this month.
In an eloquent and rangy interview, the novelist Lynne Tillman, author most recently of Men and Apparitions, talks about how she finds the voice of her characters, Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, photography, feminism, backlash, and much more.
Barnes and Noble has been purchased by the hedge fund Elliott Advisors, which purchased the British bookseller Waterstones last year, for $638 million. Waterstones chief executive, James Daunt, is now the CEO of Barnes and Noble as well. Many in the publishing industry are concerned that Barnes and Noble—which was once vilified for causing smaller, independent booksellers to go out of business—is itself on the verge of failure. Daunt, who has had success as the Waterstones chief executive, is hopeful that Barnes and Noble can be turned around, though it will require a monetary infusion from its new owner: “Elliott expects, at some point, to sell Barnes & Noble for a lot more than they bought it for—they expect to make tons and tons of money,” Daunt told Publishers Weekly. “But they also know that they will only do that if we can make the business shinier, bigger, and better. To do that, they will need to share some of their treasure with us. The simple fact is that B&N needs money: people want to shop in places that look modern, clean, and inviting. The B&N stores look tired and need a little botox.”
Darcey Steinke, the author of Suicide Blonde and the forthcoming Flash Count Diary: Menopause and the Vindication of Natural Life, recalls working at the White House and going to punk rock shows in the Reagan years.
BBC Books dropped author Gareth Roberts from a forthcoming anthology of writings about Dr. Who after learning that the author posted transphobic Tweets.