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Pete Simon

@petejohnsimon.bsky.social

Editor in Chief @ Liveright. Everywhere else: just some guy. wwnorton.com/liveright

1,540 Followers  |  390 Following  |  16 Posts  |  Joined: 12.10.2023  |  1.7526

Latest posts by petejohnsimon.bsky.social on Bluesky

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THE GALES OF NOVEMBER | Kirkus Reviews Remembering the Mighty Fitz, half a century later.

www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...

21.07.2025 15:23 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

My upcoming book, "The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald," just received a starred review (top 10%, they're only designation) from Kirkus Reviews, an 88-year old institution that's traditionally hard to impress. Comes out October 7. Can pre-order anywhere. (1/4)

21.07.2025 15:23 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0
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The International Booker Prize 2025 | The Booker Prizes The longlist of 12 or 13 books will be announced on Tuesday, 25 February 2025 at 2pm (GMT).

We are delighted to announce that β€˜Eurotrash’ by Christian Kracht, in the translation by @uni-hamburg.de Fellow 2024-2025 Daniel Bowles @bostoncollege.bsky.social has been longlisted for this year's @thebookerprizes.bsky.social !

bit.ly/3CYrLpo

26.02.2025 15:32 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Something New in the West - The American Scholar Kurt Beals on translating All Quiet on the Western Front

theamericanscholar.org/something-ne...

03.03.2025 15:46 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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"Reworking a classic is challenging, but, as Beals writes, the greater ordeal was 'to spend months with these young soldiers, in the trenches and in their heads, to know them intimately enough to give them new voices in a new language, and then to watch them die.'"

03.03.2025 15:46 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Congratulations to Christian Kracht and translator Daniel Bowles, whose novel EUROTRASH has been named to the #InternationalBooker2025 longlist!

Learn more about this probing masterpiece-in-miniature of self-reflection and cultural reckoning: wwnorton.com/books/978132...

25.02.2025 16:05 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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A hippie memoir that will send you on a trek through Kathmandu And other books that will broaden your horizons.

www.vox.com/culture/3994...

21.02.2025 17:57 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Constance Grady posts a delightful short review of Mischa Berlinski's MONA ACTS OUT. Grateful for readers who really get what Mischa's done!

(Link in replies)

21.02.2025 17:57 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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🎟️🎭🎼βžͺβ˜›β˜žMONA ACTS OUTβ˜šβ˜œβ‡¦πŸŽΌπŸŽ­πŸŽŸοΈ Happy Thanksgiving! I have a Thanksgiving surprise for you.

claireberlinski.substack.com/p/mona-acts-...

30.01.2025 09:24 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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In stores today 🐢 β€” Named one of Apple Books' Best Books of January 2025, Mischa Berlinski's exuberant, funny new novel MONA ACTS OUT is "A great ride... with an extraordinary sense of the relation between theater and life" (Kirkus Reviews, starred)!

Learn more: wwnorton.com/books/978132...

21.01.2025 15:18 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Book Review: β€˜Mona Acts Out,’ by Mischa Berlinski (Gift Article) Mischa Berlinski’s shrewd comic novel finds a veteran actress reconnecting with her deposed mentor while facing the challenge of playing Cleopatra.

On a Shakespeare-steeped comic novel for theater people, especially fans of β€œTrust Exercise”: Mischa Berlinski’s β€œMona Acts Out.” 🎁 www.nytimes.com/2025/01/21/b...

21.01.2025 21:12 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Book Review: β€˜Mona Acts Out,’ by Mischa Berlinski Mischa Berlinski’s shrewd comic novel finds a veteran actress reconnecting with her deposed mentor while facing the challenge of playing Cleopatra.

www.nytimes.com/2025/01/21/b...

22.01.2025 01:28 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Really chuffed about this review, which, unlike the knee-jerk hated it / loved it Goodreads-binary that is our cultural norm, really engaged with Mischa's novel actively and substantively, and came away with a nuanced appreciation and critique of it.

22.01.2025 01:28 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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"Like Susan Choi in β€œTrust Exercise,” Berlinski has an intricate understanding of the dynamics of predation, the psyches of performers and the culture of theater, particularly the grittier, convention-trampling downtown variety." --Laura Collins-Hughes (@collinshughes.bsky.social)

22.01.2025 01:26 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Kurt’s a modest guy, so he’s burying the lede here:

β€œMr. Beals’s shimmering version of this novel should become the standard for English readers.”

A more emphatic endorsement is hard to imagine!

Ordering info here: wwnorton.com/books/978132...

17.01.2025 22:14 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I’ll be so eager to hear what you think!

16.01.2025 21:17 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

It’s funny throughout and by the end quite moving.

16.01.2025 20:23 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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A flamboyant Broadway actor juggles her family and career in Mischa Berlinski's hilarious 'Mona Acts Out' "Peacekeeping" author Mischa Berlinski is back with "Mona Acts Out," a comic novel about an actor struggling with her unruly family, career setbacks, addiction and the #MeToo movement.

www.startribune.com/in-mona-acts...

16.01.2025 20:17 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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"Rhapsodic and enlightening about Shakespeare, full of fun on every page, Mischa Berlinski’s β€œMona Acts Out” is an early literary delight of 2025." --Marion Wink, Minneapolis Star Tribune

16.01.2025 20:17 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
Mona Acts Out by Mischa Berlinski

Mona Acts Out by Mischa Berlinski

Starred reviews from PW and Kirkus. I appreciate the Cleopatra-esque outfit. #collectiondevelopment amzn.to/49vNocv

09.12.2024 18:46 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1
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Translating the beginning of the Odyssey: 4 ways This selection of four translations of the first ten lines of the Odyssey (the "proem", as it's known among Homerists) has done the rounds online.

I started a Substack, so that I can eventually convert some of my comments on translation from twitter to a different platform. I wrote an initial post about the 4 translations of the beginning of the Odyssey that have been circulated recently. open.substack.com/pub/emily613...

02.09.2024 15:24 β€” πŸ‘ 149    πŸ” 38    πŸ’¬ 8    πŸ“Œ 6
Ancient Wisdom, New Translations: Emily Wilson's Iliad and M.A.R. Habib's Qur'an
YouTube video by Library of Congress Ancient Wisdom, New Translations: Emily Wilson's Iliad and M.A.R. Habib's Qur'an

Video from the National Book Festival, featuring a beautiful recitation from the Qur'an:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDKW...

04.09.2024 20:15 β€” πŸ‘ 23    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
A tweet from "Librarian Mama": "Oh, you've never read The Odyssey???"

Your timing is perfect. Emily Wilson's translation is the best one in literally ages, has that sweet iambic pentameter to give it a "bouncy" feel, & makes dudebros cry that the classic has "gone woke". 😁

Then a photo of Emily Wilson, whose arms have tattoos.

A tweet from "Librarian Mama": "Oh, you've never read The Odyssey???" Your timing is perfect. Emily Wilson's translation is the best one in literally ages, has that sweet iambic pentameter to give it a "bouncy" feel, & makes dudebros cry that the classic has "gone woke". 😁 Then a photo of Emily Wilson, whose arms have tattoos.

A reply Tweet by "Charles Bentley-Astor": "The Odyssey is in dactylic hexameter.

Why would you "translate" it and render it in iambic pentameter (English metre)?

To give the poem a sense of rhythm more intuitive to English speakers?  No. To rob the "dudebros" of their one remaining piece of classical literature - the one story from which they can take inspiration and see their heritage.

Vandalism for vandalism's sake."

A reply Tweet by "Charles Bentley-Astor": "The Odyssey is in dactylic hexameter. Why would you "translate" it and render it in iambic pentameter (English metre)? To give the poem a sense of rhythm more intuitive to English speakers? No. To rob the "dudebros" of their one remaining piece of classical literature - the one story from which they can take inspiration and see their heritage. Vandalism for vandalism's sake."

Checking the Odyssey drama on Twitter, and it's amazing how these dudebro assholes PRETEND to know the classics, but really don't. The first two acclaimed translations of the Odyssey, Chapman (1616) and Pope (1726) are in iambic pentameter. Dactylic doesn't work in English...

28.12.2024 03:18 β€” πŸ‘ 21    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

Congratulations to @maxboot.bsky.social, whose β€œelegant,” β€œlandmark” biography of Ronald Reagan has just been selected as one of β€œThe Ten Best Books of 2024”! nytimes.com/2024/12/03/boo…
@liveright.bsky.social

03.12.2024 13:55 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

I feel like we all just picked Bluesky and didn’t even give MILF Messenger a chance

17.11.2024 17:41 β€” πŸ‘ 24246    πŸ” 4757    πŸ’¬ 576    πŸ“Œ 164

John U Bacon on the Edmund Fitzgerald is Dad Heaven

26.10.2023 00:49 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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I am overly excited to read this when it’s done. I fucking love Edmund Fitzgerald lore

26.10.2023 00:44 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 1

Oh no, one of of you posted "and you're surprised??" in reply to someone, didn't you?

If you do that, Bluesky crashes and no one's allowed to post for an hour. This is a feature, not a bug.

14.11.2024 18:21 β€” πŸ‘ 5005    πŸ” 486    πŸ’¬ 79    πŸ“Œ 27
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Here are our suggestions for January #LibraryReads! Votes due by 12/1. www.edelweiss.plus#catalogID=50...

04.11.2024 16:39 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 2

What a day.

14.11.2024 23:54 β€” πŸ‘ 4161    πŸ” 95    πŸ’¬ 209    πŸ“Œ 19

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