Weird Novels by Lady Novelists
In her novel Angel, Elizabeth Taylor turns the exploration of the relationship of the artist to her imagination, her drive, her self-opinion, her ego, on its ear.One of George Eliot’s early...
View ArticleUrban Escape
Of course Zadie Smith’s written a science fiction epic, set on September 11, 2001, chronicling the haphazard relationship between Marlon Brando, Michael Jackson, and Elizabeth Taylor. And of course...
View ArticleThe Other Elizabeth Taylor
Men write to me and ask for a picture of me in my bikini. My husband thinks I should send one and shake them, but I have not got a bikini.The New Yorker profiles Elizabeth Taylor (the famed novelist,...
View ArticleThe Rumpus Interview with Nina Stibbe
I doubt she did it just to endear herself to Americans later on, but Nina Stibbe was a high school dropout. She left home, a land I can romanticize and redact à la Jane Austen as ———shire, in her late...
View ArticleNotable Chicago: 11/24–11/30
Friday 11/24: Looking for gift ideas? The Book Cellar hosts The National Book Critics Circle: Best Books of 2017 with Elizabeth Taylor and Charles Finch. 6 p.m., free. Saturday 11/25: It’s Small...
View ArticleNotable Chicago: 3/30–4/5
Friday 3/30: Mrinalini Chakraborty will discuss the behind-the-scenes story of the Women’s March on Washington and reading from the book, Together We Rise. She will be joined by Sameena Mustafa,...
View ArticleSweet Bird
All these vain promises on beauty jars Somewhere with your wings on time You must be laughing – Joni Mitchell When I was a kid, my mother constantly browned herself. To lay out, to become tan, to tap...
View ArticleNotable Chicago: 8/2–8/8
Friday 8/2: Women & Children First hosts the Am I Man Enough storytelling show presented by Ada Cheng. Lineup includes Israel Antonio, Rogelia Lily Ibarra, Jill Millman, and Nadine Warner. 7 p.m.,...
View ArticleThe Rumpus Mini-Interview Project #231: Ruth O. Saxton
Fifteen years ago, Dr. Ruth O. Saxton was my professor in my MFA program. She punctuated her lectures and class discussions with verve and clear insights. But in the midst of that semester she suffered...
View ArticleWhat to Read When You Don’t Know Where Home Is
It’s easy to say that home is wherever the people you love are, but while there is, of course, some truth in that, it’s not the whole story. For many, home is where there is security, safety, a meeting...
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