Wednesday Linkstorm
The Internet is full of great stuff to read this week! It's hard for me to even write jokes about it, because how do you joke about things you like? "Check out all my interests together in one place, being excellent, making me feel optimistic." See? Not a good joke.For instance, The New Republic has excellent essays lately. Here is Ian McEwan on fiction writing: The atheist may lie down with the believer, the encyclopedia with the poem. Everything absorbed and wondered at in the faithless month's science, math, history, law, and all the rest can be brought with you and put to use when you return yet again to the one true faith. That's an ending, you guys.The New Yorker blog on Louis C.K.'s love of Gogol, and the world's love of Louis C.K.Maria Bustillos interviews Saunders for The Awl. We're all in agreement that Saunders is the best human we've got, right? Okay good. Click here to read a short short called Sticks from the new collection if you want to have your day made.Over at Tin House, Seth Fried teaches you How to Interpret Your Rejection Letters. (Contains an drunk giraffe metaphor, obviously.)Patricia Cornwell has cool glasses, is suing someone.Also from the LA Times, Twitter hash tag #IWishICouldMeet, fictional character edition. #MichaelPemulis, for the win.Karen Russell met Louise Erdrich and asked the burning question on everyone's mind: "Are these pimentos in the dip? [By the Book]More Karen Russell, you insatiable Karen Russell hound.This J. Robert Lennon riff about the intersection of rock and literature is good, but I cannot believe he failed to mention Rock Bottom Remainders. Never not cracking up about the idea of Stephen King, Amy Tan, Barbara Kingsolver, and Dave Barry in a band together. Did they pick names out of a hat?According to the Times (Barnstorm: your number one source of links to the New York Times), short fiction is having a renaissance because it's easier for lazy slug people to read on screens. Viva short fiction! Viva lazy slug people! Viva the written word!