Melissa Holbrook Pierson

Thanks for this info! I've got four.

Black-and-white glamour shot of the actress Claudia Cardinale in Luchino Visconti's movie "The Leopard"

In memoriam Claudia Cardinale. Reprising my appreciation of "The Leopard," in which she was perfection itself, for @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social

lareviewofbooks.org/article/pass...

Rebecca Solnit commented that it sounded like it was written by Edith Wharton.

Me three.

An announcement for an online writing class: "Writer's Math: When to Add, When to Subtract." Full details at writersinthemountains.org

Interesting. Every class I teach is on a subject I often struggle with myself. Come struggle with me?

I'm glad you mentioned this. My first question was, Wait--my publisher holds the rights to the books of mine that are on the list, so they'll take the money, right?

Can anyone answer for me: If an author's book is still in print or the rights have not reverted to the author, then does this mean the settlement monies go only to the publisher?

Lots of parallels between your circumstances and mine! I anticipate going indie with my next book(s), after losing my mainstream publisher, then my agent. 2 thoughts occur: I believe indies are publishing the best lit right now, hands down; the bigger indies don't accept unagented mss. Bit of a fix.

Kate Zambreno’s Animal Stories | The Brooklyn Rail Rare among contemporary writers, Kate Zambreno does not produce books that are “about” one subject, or even three or four. They are about themselves. As well as about an infinitude.

Looking at Kate Zambreno looking at a subject (which is looking!) was a heady experience.
@transitbooks.bsky.social

brooklynrail.org/2025/09/book...

But do you like to bite off the little tip, then the middle, and see if the different colors taste different?? That's the proper way.

Clash Books is another!

Review | ‘Greyhound’ sees America changing through the bus windows Joanna Pocock’s memoir is about her travels from Detroit to California in 2023, retracing a trip she had taken 17 years earlier.

I was so happy to get the chance to write about @joannapocock.bsky.social‬ 's profound examination of America's ailing heartland. One more in my list of proofs that it is publishers like Soft Skull putting out the most daring and accomplished writing today.

Got 2 this morning! There's a strange desperation afoot in the land of books . . .

The ego fragility with this guy is mind-blowing. And his toadies stand around nodding their heads to his claims of being better at everything than anyone who ever lived. That this is what a once-serious govt has been reduced to has destroyed my understanding of reality.

This is a "breaking news" email from the Washington Post, saying Trump just fired the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner after it reported lower job numbers than he liked.

This made me laugh out loud. There, that should take care of it! We'll live in the land of make-believe when he gets someone to fabricate better numbers. Hysterical.

Incredibly powerful. Very glad it's out there in the world.

I pretty much dropped out too . . . after writing a nasty letter telling them where they could stick their "generous" offer of financial aid + servitude as a TA. These developments rip the thin mask of Columbia's commitment to justice right the hay off.

OMG these are great!

'Humiliating and traumatizing': Czech musician set to perform in Kent detained, sent home A Czech musician and former Kent State student was scheduled to perform several U.S. concerts. Instead, he was detained in Detroit and denied entry.

Whew, thank goodness we're being kept safe from chamber music.
www.beaconjournal.com/story/news/l...

Understanding the Intersection of Medicaid and Work: An Update | KFF Amid renewed interest in Medicaid work requirements as part of a broader legislative package designed to significantly reduce federal Medicaid spending, KFF has updated its analysis of the work status...

"Data show the majority of Medicaid enrollees are working." Push back on these craven Republicans, journalists! Don't let them get away with this b.s.

www.kff.org/medicaid/iss...

. . . and the super rich. This is how you know someone's right: by the people he makes afraid.

This thread is psychic: exactly what I needed to hear right now. Thank you!

He wishes with his whole shriveled heart chattel slavery still existed here so he could add it to his portfolio of businesses.

Apparently it's an old Broadway bromide. Long time ago it was a thing with friends to add "I puked." We were young & stupid!

I laughed, I cried

A photo of a new book by Katharine Coldiron titled "Out There in the Dark"

At least something good happened today. Book mail @autofocusbooks.bsky.social

Sir, the people
Must have their voices; neither will they bate
One jot of ceremony.

Old enough to have watched the deterioration in my own brain. Before GPS, I traveled many thousands of miles all over this country using maps and an evolutionary sense of direction. Now I can't find my way around my own town. My son, 25, just can't comprehend a paper map. A bigger loss than we know.

Harris Lahti’s Foreclosure Gothic | The Brooklyn Rail Harris Lahti’s debut, Foreclosure Gothic, is a goth song in novel form. It is full of murk, omens, melodrama, the lushness of carnality, and the fearsomeness of love’s darker impulses. It follows the ...

An interesting case . . . My review of Harris Lahti's "Foreclosure Gothic"

brooklynrail.org/2025/06/book...

taco dumbbell