Ahead of my salon series (How to Read a Novel), which starts next week with Persuasion, I went on the Interintellect podcast. We talked about the books I wish had been written, among other things. I would like to see better anthologies. Where is the
I personally would love to see an Anthology of Bad Decisions and any paper trail, writing or verbal ephemera that justify or rationalise them. I would also like to propose some form of Norton Anthology of Sensitive or Explosive Material Declassified Long After the Event, as reading documents that have passed into the public domain but were once considered private still has the delightful air of transgression and gives us a glimpse into how history occurs. The question around anthologising blogs feels like one of distribution - in the case of something like Marginal Revolution the writing has reached as wide an audience as possible via digital means, and so hard-copying it into a book has a smaller but possibly more assiduous and devoted readership, which I imagine is harder sell for publishers
Kind of a niche anthology that I enjoyed over the pandemic: Memo from David O. Selznick. An anthology of the Old Hollywood producer's many, many memos to colleagues.
The Library of America has published quite a few interesting anthologies. I've read and enjoyed Shakespeare in America.
I love collecting anthologies! One of the most interesting ones I have is called "Early Modern Women's Writing: An Anthology 1560-1700," published by Oxford World's Classics. I highly recommend it, as the editors found some really interesting things to publish. For example, Aphra Benn, infamous for her (highly racist) short story "Ooronoko," was also a spy! And they reprint some of her more personal writings.
Normally the "Year's Best" anthology series is alright--the speculative fiction edition is always a delight, but the poetry collection can be rather hit or miss.
In Jacques Barzun’s ‘Simple and Direct’, he references a set of business letters called something like ‘Letters from an Executive’. Can’t find it online now but have it at home so will dig out as remember it being pretty good.
Hi, i signed up for the salon but i realized after signing up that the live zoom recordings will be 2 am my time (GMT +8). Will there be a recording after?
I personally would love to see an Anthology of Bad Decisions and any paper trail, writing or verbal ephemera that justify or rationalise them. I would also like to propose some form of Norton Anthology of Sensitive or Explosive Material Declassified Long After the Event, as reading documents that have passed into the public domain but were once considered private still has the delightful air of transgression and gives us a glimpse into how history occurs. The question around anthologising blogs feels like one of distribution - in the case of something like Marginal Revolution the writing has reached as wide an audience as possible via digital means, and so hard-copying it into a book has a smaller but possibly more assiduous and devoted readership, which I imagine is harder sell for publishers
Kind of a niche anthology that I enjoyed over the pandemic: Memo from David O. Selznick. An anthology of the Old Hollywood producer's many, many memos to colleagues.
The Library of America has published quite a few interesting anthologies. I've read and enjoyed Shakespeare in America.
Great recommendations, thank you
You're very welcome.
Also highly recommended is Royall Tyler's anthology of translations of Japanese No plays.
I love collecting anthologies! One of the most interesting ones I have is called "Early Modern Women's Writing: An Anthology 1560-1700," published by Oxford World's Classics. I highly recommend it, as the editors found some really interesting things to publish. For example, Aphra Benn, infamous for her (highly racist) short story "Ooronoko," was also a spy! And they reprint some of her more personal writings.
Normally the "Year's Best" anthology series is alright--the speculative fiction edition is always a delight, but the poetry collection can be rather hit or miss.
I like those sorts of anthologies too. Always pick them up in second hand shops as Michael Dirda says. I just want more range.
In Jacques Barzun’s ‘Simple and Direct’, he references a set of business letters called something like ‘Letters from an Executive’. Can’t find it online now but have it at home so will dig out as remember it being pretty good.
Oh that sounds marvellous---do let me know! Thanks Will
I would love to join the salon but sadly will have to miss the first one! Could we have the dates for the subsequent salons so I can avoid clashes?
Oh what a shame! If you click this link there are links to all salons with full details. Usually first Tuesday of the month or so. https://interintellect.com/salon/how-to-read-a-novel-i-beginnings-persuasion-jane-austen/
Hi, i signed up for the salon but i realized after signing up that the live zoom recordings will be 2 am my time (GMT +8). Will there be a recording after?
Oh no I'm sorry to hear that. I think if you email Interintellect they might be able to help. There's no recording, I'm afraid.