John Freeman Book Recommendations & Book Mentions

John Freeman

I love this new poem by Stuart Dybek with its knotted questions of belief & abandonment https://t.co/iFyxD0u3J0 You can hear him read poems tonight @volumesbooks on 1373 N. Milwaukee at 6:30, come on out! https://t.co/QibWwlGyGm

John Freeman

I learned to make my mind large, as the universe is large, so that there is room for paradoxes. —Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman Warrior

John Freeman

She remembers listening to him pray, every night, when they first got married, that he would be the one to die first. —Julie Otsuka, “The Swimmers”

John Freeman

Here’s a great section of @sarahmbroom ‘s memoir, The Yellow House, which won @nationalbook award for nonfiction last night. What a profound story Broom tells about mapping what’s lost but still inside you. Congrats to Sarah @groveatlantic & @amy_hundley https://lithub.com/for-sarah-broom-coming-of-age-means-learning-to-see/

John Freeman

Sandra Cisneros will have new poems coming next year from @AAKnopf - thank you @agentStB andvof course Sandra! ❤️❤️ https://t.co/WGYIkQa0L3

John Freeman

I feel like friendship & the affinity it lends to reading is an underused part of criticism. Sometimes a friend sees all. As in some of Vivian Gornick’s essays, or this great piece by @PacoGoldman on Lost Children Archive, by his friend @ValeriaLuiselli https://lithub.com/a-novel-for-our-times/

John Freeman

You can read the first chapter of THE EVERY, Dave Eggers’ hilarious & brilliant new novel, over @WIRED - the book is a follow up to THE CIRCLE and it’s coming out from @mcsweeneys next month & with @VintageAnchor in November. https://t.co/oYAVpTpzHQ

John Freeman

The utilitarian argument against fiestas, parades, carnivals, and general public merriment is that they produce nothing. But they do: they produce society. -Rebecca Solnit, A Paradise Built in Hell

John Freeman

My new book’s out May 4th! You can preorder THE PENGUIN BOOK OF THE MODERN AMERICAN SHORT STORY here from @penguinpress Reading for it was a huge joy. 1970-2020 were great years, from Bambara to Le Guin, Erdrich to Johnson, Chiang, Russell, Muñoz & more https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/606179/the-penguin-book-of-the-modern-american-short-story-by-edited-by-john-freeman/ https://t.co/yJ6CmB9kAa

John Freeman

“What’s pathetic tends to be massively true, it’s triumph is like being a good standup…it’s just a flash or a shift, it’s glory is that moment when it opens the box and the unlikely steps out and looks around.” —Eileen Myles, “Pathetic Literature” (@groveatlantic )