Andrew Solomon, author of Far from the Tree, has written a thoughtful story about his friendship with Ghanaian president John Dramani Mahama—a friendship that in recent weeks has been scrutinized by the Ghanaian press. "President John Dramani has been fingered to be in bed with one Mr. Andrew Solomon, a gay lobbyist," one paper has reported. Solomon points out that he has "neither the ability nor the inclination to meddle in foreign elections." But he does express his hope that Mahama will "take a leadership role in the region on L.G.B.T. rights."
Macmillian has agreed to settle a Department of Justice lawsuit over e-book pricing, making it the last of the five big publishing houses named in the suit to do so. (Apple remains a defendant.)
More than 200,000 people turned out for the Jaipur Literature Festival this year, the most in the event’s eleven-year history. At the Financial Times, festival organizer William Dalrymple, the historian (whose Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan is out this April) reflects on how things have changed, and what can go wrong at the biggest literary festival in Asia-Pacific: “This year the Hindu far right protested about the presence of Pakistani writers and musicians, while various Muslim groups wanted us to disinvite Jeet Thayil, who last year read out a passage of The Satanic Verses in support of Salman Rushdie.”
Sam Lipsyte on "the awkward art of writing about sex."
"Wife wanted: intelligent, beautiful, 18 to 25, broad-minded, sensitive, affectionate..." NPR considers the history of personal ads at The New York Review of Books.
R&B superstar Frank Ocean, subject of last weekend’s New York Times Magazine cover story, is currently writing a novel about brothers.
