This is a mini-review that I wrote for WWAC but will not post, at least not in its current form:

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So I sympathize with Rui, whose every word is stolen from her by the men who conspire to confine her to a page of pulped paper. If she can’t speak in the language of the cultural elite, she’ll find another way of expressing herself, and the vast and mysterious array of life she produces is infinitely more vibrant than her husband’s formulaic literary fiction. Her husband has the privilege of publishing award-winning books made of dead wood, but she is the roots and the leaves and the flowers and the wind.

...I wrote this last night, and then this morning I got an email telling me that my application to the Philadelphia writer’s workshop was waitlisted. This is frustrating, obviously, to have the door closed in my face again. But then again, there’s a lot of space outside the house, and a lot more room to grow.

It turns out that the Corpse Party manga has been officially licensed and is available for Kindle (here).

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I don't know what I expected 🙃 but I'm still going to read it.

I am currently simmering in an anxiety hell of my own making, so I want to chill out a bit by telling a story about my two-year-old corgi, Lola.

Like most corgis, Lola is extremely cowardly. Things she is afraid of include: rain, plastic bags, bikes, people opening their car doors, cats, birds, people sitting on their porches, the wind, and tennis balls.

Lola is also afraid of books. This is a problem because I like to read. When I'm reading, Lola wants to sit on the bed or the couch with me. Unfortunately, she's afraid of the books, so she'll cower on the floor and whine.

Despite being cowardly, Lola is fairly intelligent and eager to please, so I taught her the command "little lick." What this entails is that I'll put something in front of her face and say "Lola, little lick," and she'll give it a tiny little kiss. This is the only way she'll consent to tolerate objects that scare her, such as the PlayStation 5 controller.

So now, every time I want to sit down and read, the corgi has to touch her cute little nose to every single book, generally along the bottom edge of the pages. I apologize to the university library, but honestly, my dog is cleaner than most undergrads. Anyone who finds themselves in possession of a book consecrated by Lola should consider themselves lucky.

Pitch Guide for Translators
https://antonhur.com/pitch-guide-for-translators/

The end of the opening paragraph is where I usually drop comp titles, which are the titles of books that are similar in vibe with your book. For Cursed Bunny, I mentioned Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado and Mouthful of Birds by Samanta Schweblin, both edgy, literary horror written by women. Try to find comp titles from books that the editor is likely to have read or at least heard about. If you can find a comp title in the editor’s or publisher’s backlist, that’s even better. There are several recurring discussions about comp titles that people on Twitter make such a big deal about for some reason—don’t overthink it. The point is to provide context for your book and to help the editor get a good feel for it. That’s all there is to it.

I'm not a huge fan of either of the comp titles listed here, but Cursed Bunny is very good. As is this entire post. And I think this is really good and useful advice about comp titles, which are one of my worst weaknesses.

I decided to cancel class yesterday so I could finish the White Mask Varré story. I regret nothing.

Like Elden Ring itself, I think this story is very good, and I would recommend it to no one.

I will now alienate everyone I know by posting it online.


...As an aside, I learned from the Dark Souls podcast that Lady Tanith of the Volcano Manor is named after Tanith Lee, a fantasy writer who was extremely prolific during the 1980s. I managed to get a copy of her short fiction collection Dreams of Dark and Light from the Princeton library, and wow. Those monsters do be fucking.

In the spring semester I'm teaching a literature class called "Tokyo Stories." I don't mean to be a grumpy old man, and I say this with nothing but sympathy: I think college-age students have trouble with reading. A lot of this is coming from the fact that reading requires quiet, focus, and attention, and these kids are extremely busy. I therefore want to assign books that are (a) short, (b) interesting, and (c) accessible, both in the sense of "easy to read" and in the sense of "easy to find summaries and reviews online" (also in the sense of "inexpensive" and "readily available in a digital edition").

This is what I have so far:

- In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami
- Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
- After Dark by Haruki Murakami
- Tokyo Ueno Station by Miri Yu
- Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
- The Last Children of Tokyo by Yoko Tawada
- Himawari House by Harmony Becker

I'm considering assigning one of the Fuminori Nakamura crime novellas - maybe the one about the taxi driver? - but I don't remember them being that good in translation. I guess I should probably read a few of the translations again over the break. I'm also considering the first volume of the Durarara!! light novel series, but I need to read the translation first to see if it's any good.

Fairy Tale is excellent. I really enjoyed it.

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Another nice thing about Fairy Tale is its illustrations. Damn I love when books have good art.

In order for a story to be considered “Gothic,” I think it needs to include…

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There are numerous cross-genres and sub-genres of Gothic that have their own specific conventions, like Gothic Romance and Boarding School Gothic. I didn’t address the visual language of the Gothic, or how tropes and conventions vary between times and cultures. Still, I think this is the core of the genre.

Gothic: An Illustrated History
https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691229164/gothic

The word Gothic conjures associations with the dark and melancholy, the weird and feared, and haunted places and people. In Gothic, Roger Luckhurst offers readers an unprecedented look at the ways this uncanny style has manifested itself through architecture, literature, film, art, video games, and more. From the works of Victor Hugo and E. T. A. Hoffmann to Southern Gothic, ancient folklore, and classic horror movies, Luckhurst explores how an aesthetic that began in the margins has been reinvented through the centuries to become part of mainstream global culture.

Despite being published by Princeton, this isn't an academic book, and the person who wrote it isn't a professor. All in all, it's excellent, with lots of photos and illustrations. The physical copy is very handsome and definitely worth getting at a $15 discount on Amazon.

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I took three things away from this book.

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By the way, when I ordered a copy of Gothic: An Illustrated History, Amazon told me that I might also enjoy the recently published Pandemonium: A Visual History of Demonology. And damn if the algorithm wasn't 100% correct.

I want to add that I very much appreciate when people spoil things for me. I only have so many days on this earth, and I need people to tell me when something is worth my time. For example:

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I write a fair number of reviews, and I think about this issue a lot in very concrete and practical terms. There's always going to be a delicate balance between explaining what's interesting and compelling about a piece of media and allowing your reader the space to experience it for themselves, but I sometimes feel that the hand-wringing over "posting spoilers on the internet" may have gone a bit overboard.