Helen DeWitt’s hectic, disruptive style reflects the content of her stories: the difficulty of living an authentic life, or telling anything like a “story,” in a ruthlessly disruptive world.
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Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
How Author Helen DeWitt Uses Language to Address the Problems In Her Life
In New York magazine, Christian Lorentzen has an interview with Helen DeWitt, author of The Last Samurai and Lightning Rods. Owing to a combination of misfortunes, misunderstandings and publishing-related snags, the critically acclaimed novelist has been perennially broke. But, despite a history of brushes with suicide, she has a secret weapon against letting life’s problems get […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
On Being Stalked
Novelist Helen DeWitt on the harrowing experience of being stalked, and the ways in which the legal system failed her.
Posted inNonfiction, Top 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Below, our favorite stories of the week. Kindle users, you can also get them as a Readlist. Sign up to receive this list free every Friday in your inbox. * * * 1. You’re 16. You’re a Pedophile. You Don’t Want to Hurt Anyone. What Do You Do Now? Luke Malone | Medium | Aug. […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Novels From the Edge: For Helen DeWitt, the Publishing World Is a High-Stakes Game
Lightning Rods is about a salesman named Joe who fails to sell a single Encyclopedia Britannica and sells exactly one Electrolux vacuum cleaner. He realizes the problem isn’t with him. The problem is with other people. He needs to sell “something people knew they needed anyway.” He sets up a business of contracted female administrative […]
Posted inUncategorized
Lightning Rods is about a salesman named Joe who fails to sell a single Encyclopedia Britannica and sells exactly one Electrolux vacuum cleaner. He realizes the problem isn’t with him. The problem is with other people. He needs to sell “something people knew they needed anyway.” He sets up a business of contracted female administrative […]
