Ever wondered how some of your favorite authors tackled the crazy job of putting pen to paper and creating those stories you loved to read? Well, we're here to tell you it's not all magical. As you can see from these intricate spreadsheets and notes, crafting a novel takes a whole lot of careful planning.…
Tag: literature
Coverflip: How Book Covers Differ by Author’s Gender
Author Maureen Johnson has had enough of gendered book covers. Just what is she talking about? Well, she's talking about books that look like this: Versus this: And yes, that is the same book in each picture. The first is what ended up in print, while the second imagines how the cover might have looked…
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A Conversation with Joyce Carol Oates
The eNotes team visited this year's LA Times Festival of Books to bring you recaps of the captivating interviews with some of the most anthologized writers. You may recognize the first as part of your syllabus if you've ever read her infamous short story, "Where Are You Going, Were Have You Been?" It's the prolific…
To the Beat of Our Own Drum: My Life Among the Beat Generation
This guest post comes to us by way of one of our eNotes educators, wordprof. Besides serving as one of our literary experts, having written two books on drama and worked for Purdue University, wordprof has much to share for having witnessed firsthand one of the most interesting time periods in American literary history. Read…
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Confessions of a Book Abandoner
A positively shameful confession from college student and eNotes intern, Yael... I need to confess something, guys. I’m a book-starter. That kind of sounds like a positive thing, but it’s not. Allow me to rephrase. I’m a book-abandoner… a book-deserter. I just can’t kick the habit. In the past two years, I’ve probably started and…
Celebrating 200 Years of Pride and Prejudice (and Darcy, mmmm)
"I want to tell you that I have got my own darling child from London." These are the words Jane Austen wrote to her sister Cassandra 200 years ago, on January 29th, 1813. And the "darling child" she spoke of? None other than her firstborn novel, of course--Pride & Prejudice.
The novel was…
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Eek, it’s Frankensteinbeck! And Other Literary Puns
I came across this fantastic gallery in the Rumpus today and had to share. The artist Timothy Lee Taranto illustrates literature's most serious authors in a less than serious light. Check out our favorite, the "Vonnugget," below, and many more. Happy Friday!
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Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases of 2013
Though I'm still reeling to catch up on the great new releases of 2012, and though I already have a set list of books to tackle as my New Year's resolution, I'm already salivating over the following sneak previews that come courtesy of The Millions. Apparently the first stage of overcoming literature fatigue is admitting…