Things I Like - Books

We’re big readers of The New Yorker at the White house. Yes, the restaurant reviews and cultural listings have an NYC focus but the articles cover national and international issues. And don’t forget the fiction and humor pieces not to mention beautiful cover art.

I’ve had a subscription since 2002 and can honestly say that there have been fewer than 5 issues that I haven’t read thoroughly. That’s saying something for a weekly publication.

Granta is a different story. I’m sure that anyone who takes literature seriously is aware of this English publication, but the first I heard of it was last week while wandering the internets. Why was everyone all excited? Because the Fall issue of this prestigious journal is Chicago-themed, only the second time that a city has been so honored (not surprisingly, London was the first).

The issue (coming out September 14th) will have essays, stories, articles and poetry from Chicago-based authors. The journal cover is artwork created by Chicago artist Chris Ware.

Following are excerpts from interviews with Granta editor, John Freeman:

Obvious question…why Chicago?
It’s just extraordinary to me how many essential writers right now are from Chicago. But unlike the Dirty Realists, who were united by a style, say, a tonal and thematic unity, the writers in Chicago are all over the map. You have Chris Ware, who is inventing a new way of telling stories, and Aleksandar Hemon reinventing ways of using the English language, via the warp of Bosnian history. You have the cool remove of Dinaw Mengestu and the elegance of Stuart Dybek, the density of Anne Winters’ lines, and the talky, loose, classic Chicago style of Neil Steinberg’s reporting. Put together I think they make a wonderful sound, and to me that’s the music of a city pulling away from its well-known past and reinventing itself, violently and sometimes hopefully.
~Tom Lynch at New City Lit

Were your British colleagues all on board, or did it require strong-arm tactics?
It took a few months, and I have to say it was a bit like Chicago politics, requiring some wheedling, convincing and cajoling. They all know of the city, but mainly through its familiar mythology of the past, like Bellow and Dillinger, Sandburg and Capone. The Chicago of today is less familiar to them, which to me made it such a clear choice for the theme. I wanted very much not to be nostalgic or to belabor things about Chicago's past that are familiar. And once everyone was on board, it was so exciting to watch them fall in love with Chicago from afar. When Chris Ware's cover art came in, even I was overwhelmed, it's so beautiful.
~Victoria Lautman at Huffington Post

I may need to pick up a copy.