Self-styled “hatchet man” Dale Peck wrote a scathing and personal takedown of Pete Buttigieg’s presidential candidacy at the New Republic on Friday. After an outcry from readers, the story was retracted by TNR’s editors, who also apologized. Mayor Pete, for his part, seemed unfazed: “I appreciated that [the] article was taken down. I don't think it really reflects the New Republic that I know. . . . The most disturbing news story I saw yesterday was the Vice President's visit to those border facilities."
Publishers Weekly has posted a list of this fall season’s most anticipated books by debut writers.
At the Times, Alec Nevala-Lee explains how William Gass’s massive 1995 novel The Tunnel and its meditations on evil “predicted Trump’s America.” “After The Tunnel was published, Gass made its true subject clear: ‘I’m not talking about Germany, I’m talking about the United States.’”
Lichfield County Auctions is selling a number of items once owned by novelist Philip Roth, including the author’s stereo, ladder, and wicker patio furniture.
At Noteworthy, Justin Ward writes about “the death of the working-class reporter.”
Penguin Random House’s Pamela Dorman has purchased Ashley Audrain’s debut novel The Push for a reported seven figures. Dorman calls the novel “a story about mothers and their children, and about how an unspeakable act can reverberate and change the lives around us forever.”
Sharon Marcus—the Columbia professor, editor of Public Books, and author of the new study The Drama of Celebrity—explains why she wishes she could invite Sarah Bernhardt, Joni Mitchell, and Katharine Hepburn to a dinner party.
