Thomas Beller, author of J. D. Salinger: The Escape Artist, writes about his experiences working for the Cambodia Daily, and reports on that paper’s abrupt closing following threats from the government last week. “There were many news items about the threat to the Daily and the authoritarian turn away from democracy. On Sunday, September 3rd, the leader of the opposition party was arrested in the middle of the night, charged with treason, and taken to a remote prison. The following edition of the paper carried the headline ‘Descent into outright dictatorship,’ above the fold. At the bottom was an article titled ‘Cambodia Daily faces immediate closure amidst threats.’ That was the last issue.”
Random House has announced that it will publish a book about the Trump administration by New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Glenn Thrush. The book, which has not yet been titled, will be, according to a press release, “a comprehensive, deeply reported look at a history-making president.”
“What’s So Funny?: An Investigation” by Lorrie Moore. “Animals” by Jonathan Lethem. “Apocalyptic Storytelling” by Junot Diaz. “Imaginary Countries” by Alexander Chee. “Shadow Narration” by Jeffery Renard Allen. “Constructions of Whiteness” by Claudia Rankine. These aren’t new books or essays. They’re creative-writing courses.
According to a new report, Amazon pays eleven times less in corporation taxes than “traditional” bookstores in the UK.
The Brooklyn Book Festival will take place this weekend, on Sunday, September 17, but its “Bookend” events are well under way. Tonight, you can see James Hannaham read, hear a new generation of writers discuss “What Happened to the Public Intellectual,” or attend a dinner inspired by Akhil Sharma’s new story collection, A Life of Adventure and Delight.