Sublime
An inspiration engine for ideas
“For the last twenty years, until recently, Jhumpa Lahiri’s stories were the template of ethnic fiction that supports the fantasy of Asian American immigrants as compliant strivers. The fault lies not in Lahiri herself, who I think is an absorbing storyteller, but in the publishing industry that used to position her books as the “single story” on i
... See moreNothing now in the weeds and litter to interest her, and her whole life consisting of her own disappointment: helpless against the arrival of her bad temper, she kicked a crushed Red Stripe can at her feet.
Sarah Perry • Enlightenment
“I’m Mrs. Burns-Cooper,” said the woman, “and after this, well, it’s all right this time, because it’s your first time, but after this time always use the back entrance.” There is a pear in my icebox, and one end of rye bread. Except for three Irish potatoes and a cup of flour and the empty Christmas boxes, there is absolutely nothing on my shelf.
... See moreMargo Jefferson • Maud Martha
I thought it was the dictate of craft that had pared many of the Best American stories to a nearly unreadable core of brisk verbs and vivid nouns—like entries in a contest to identify as many concrete entities as possible, in the fewest possible words.
Elif Batuman • The Possessed
How wise the Rabbis were: law on restricted greeting is really the law against rejoicing. Instead of a global, “You shall not rejoice,” which would be incomprehensible, they said, “You shall not do this little thing or make that small gesture.” I never knew how much pleasure there is in greeting a friend until the Rabbis forbade it on Tisha B’Av.
Blu Greenberg • How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household
Considerable comfort could be obtained, given this story line, through the demonization of the Reverend Al Sharpton, whose presence on the edges of certain criminal cases that interested him had a polarizing effect that tended to reinforce the narrative.