S.W. Welch occupies the same place in the literary culture of Montreal that The Strand and City Lights and Tattered Cover occupy in their respective cities. To lose it would be heartbreaking.

This Parul Sehgal essay is extreeemely good nytimes.com/2021/02/26/boo…

This is one of the smartest baseball books I've ever read (which stands to reason, because Devin Gordon is one of the smartest writers around). It's also one of the funniest baseball books I've ever read.

The beginning The end of my of my first drafts first drafts

Norman Finkelstein Norman Finkelstein is the son of Holocaust survivors. His dad survived Auschwitz, his mom survived Majdanek & they both survived the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. He argues that If the Jews had the right to resist, so do Palestinians in #gaza youtube.com/watch?v=EFdVHl…

I'm late to this fantastic essay. ICYMI too: latimes.com/entertainment-…

"If the notion of a Scandinavian crayfish culture seems surprising to an American with Cajuns on their mind, Swedes would be amused to hear it," writes Brett Martin. strangersguide.com/articles/crayf…

I loved this story.

I have lost my life’s work. Last night in NYC, I misplaced my journal from DEATH OF A SALESMAN on Broadway. This distillation of all I have ever experienced on my creative journey culminated in this production. A document of all the defining moments of critical self reflection

congrats to Michelle Syba, whose collection END TIMES has pubbed! an English at Harvard Ph.D & a lapsed evangelical, she’s a double agent in the land of faith, digging into big questions with unsparing intelligence & uncanny insight into conflicted souls michellesyba.com

Ever since I read James's knockout of a short story, "The Showrunner" (see for yourself: atlengthmag.com/prose/the-show…), I've been eagerly anticipating his first novel. It goes to the top of my to-read list!

“Musk’s unpredictable behaviour and polarising political views have meant that it’s been a platform to avoid for a good while now,” one advertising agency executive said. “It’s never been a more damaging place for brands to show up.” Gift link on.ft.com/3rV2MNU

Today, the AG’s team was just getting into the severance agreement provision I wrote about before breaking for lunch; after, they said they were done with Weisselberg for now. Why? @klasfeldreports says it’s because Dan Alexander accused Weisselberg of perjury—and has receipts.

The fact-checkers are taking down Weisselberg.

yeah, whenever you're ready

THE WINNER, coming to the UK June 4 (and US May 28):

Tonight the spirit of ‘68 met the post-9/11 security and intelligence apparatus in NYC — a collision decades in the making.

i'm out

voting against X and what it now stands for. hope to see you here—a vastly more thoughtful and respectful place—instead: Nathaniel Penn.bsky.social