(via bookoisseur)
Chance the Rapper - “Interlude (That’s Love)”
Happy Friday.
I had so much fun writing for Vulture tonight. I’ve been doing this nightblogger thing for eighteen months and still have such a blast. Thankful every day that site keeps me around.
Anyway. I hope you like Rick Moranis: The Novel: The Blog Post.
![Jamaica Kincaid talking to The American Reader:
“People only say I’m angry because I’m black and I’m a woman. But all sorts of people write with strong feeling, the way I do. But if they’re white, they won’t say it. I used to just pretend I didn’t notice it, and now I just think I don’t care. There are all sorts of reasons not to like my writing. But that’s not one of them. Saying something is angry is not a criticism. It’s not valid. It’s not a valid observation in terms of criticism. You can list it as something that’s true. But it’s not critical. You may not like it because it makes you uneasy—and you can say that. But to damn it because it’s angry…. They always say that about black people: ‘those angry black people.’ And why? You’re afraid that there might be some truth to their anger. It might be justified. I promise you, if I had blonde hair and blue eyes this wouldn’t be an issue. No one ever says, ‘That angry Judith Krantz…’ or whatever.
And I don’t seem to care what people think. I write—from the time I started writing I’ve been writing the same way. And people have been saying the same shit about it: ‘She’s angry. The sentences are too long.’ My first short story is one sentence, 300 words long. My writing has always been criticized for this, this, this. I think that people just think, ‘Why the hell won’t she stop it? We’ve told her we don’t like it. She keeps doing it.’ That’s the way I write. It’s never going to stop. And the more it makes people annoyed the more I will do it. And it’s actually really good writing. I’m a good writer. They should just say that: ‘She’s a great writer.’ I am. … They should just say it, ‘This is really a good writer.’ And, ‘A lot of the other shit that you like isn’t good writing.’ [laughter].”
Spent the weekend delighted and awestruck by her new novel, See Now Then, and how little it cares about how a book is supposed to be. Completely honest and explorative and one-of-a-kind.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/cbdbb14b1f09aa85d1ba64eefcaa2964/tumblr_mmd4tvcWnF1qa2kvco1_500.jpg)
Jamaica Kincaid talking to The American Reader:
“People only say I’m angry because I’m black and I’m a woman. But all sorts of people write with strong feeling, the way I do. But if they’re white, they won’t say it. I used to just pretend I didn’t notice it, and now I just think I don’t care. There are all sorts of reasons not to like my writing. But that’s not one of them. Saying something is angry is not a criticism. It’s not valid. It’s not a valid observation in terms of criticism. You can list it as something that’s true. But it’s not critical. You may not like it because it makes you uneasy—and you can say that. But to damn it because it’s angry…. They always say that about black people: ‘those angry black people.’ And why? You’re afraid that there might be some truth to their anger. It might be justified. I promise you, if I had blonde hair and blue eyes this wouldn’t be an issue. No one ever says, ‘That angry Judith Krantz…’ or whatever.
And I don’t seem to care what people think. I write—from the time I started writing I’ve been writing the same way. And people have been saying the same shit about it: ‘She’s angry. The sentences are too long.’ My first short story is one sentence, 300 words long. My writing has always been criticized for this, this, this. I think that people just think, ‘Why the hell won’t she stop it? We’ve told her we don’t like it. She keeps doing it.’ That’s the way I write. It’s never going to stop. And the more it makes people annoyed the more I will do it. And it’s actually really good writing. I’m a good writer. They should just say that: ‘She’s a great writer.’ I am. … They should just say it, ‘This is really a good writer.’ And, ‘A lot of the other shit that you like isn’t good writing.’ [laughter].”
Spent the weekend delighted and awestruck by her new novel, See Now Then, and how little it cares about how a book is supposed to be. Completely honest and explorative and one-of-a-kind.
3,500ish glorious, captivating words with these two excellent novelists. Read it at Vulture.
Read this amazing, tiny novel as soon as you can. Don’t wait longer than 12ish hours, though, preferably.
