TOBI'S DESK

…that despite the wars, the violence, the immeasurable harm we perpetrated, our resilience and strength and our humanity still shone through the dark mist. A FEW WEEKS ago, Abubakar Adam Ibrahim was awarded the 2016 Nigeria NLNG Prize for Literature, for his first novel and second book of fiction, Season of Crimson Blossoms (2015).  At $100,000, […] from Brittle Paper http://ift.tt/2gDVaFq

Millions Readers: Max here. When I last wrote in these pages, I was introducing our talented new editor, Lydia Kiesling. Since then, we have added a number of new staff writers (Marie Myung-Ok Lee, Zoë Ruiz, Il’ja Rákoš, Ismail Muhammad, Chigozie Obioma) and a new social media editor (Kirstin Butler). We also have exciting projects in the works that we hope will usher in a new era at The Millions . As is likely not news to anyone reading this, it is very challenging to maintain an independent, culture-focused online magazine. Today, we are asking our readers to support the site, not because we are in dire straits but because now, more than ever, we believe it is time for you and us to take our destiny into our own hands as much as is possible. Please visit our new Membership page and sign up now . It’s a very quick and simple process and we have a number of tiers that should be manageable for any budget. The Millions is a unique place. Over the last nearly 14 years, we have help...

Out this week:  Normal   by  Warren Ellis ;  The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories ;  and  The Best American Magazine Writing 2016 . For more on these and other new titles, go read our latest fiction and nonfiction book previews. The post Tuesday New Release Day: Ellis; Moore; Hodge appeared first on The Millions . from The Millions http://ift.tt/2grTKP6

NATURE WAS largely untouched in Hamusit—a large village in remote northern Ethiopia. It was thatch-roofed huts that sparsely dotted the open land. Technology or modern life was absent, in a way that made the people seem vulnerable, in a good way, and made the visitor from the city feel an instinctual envy. Adanech was walking […] from Brittle Paper http://ift.tt/2gBj4Fc

Early morning the next day, some policemen stormed auntie Kate’s house, demanding her presence at the State Criminal Investigation Department. She couldn’t believe her eyes, and never expected them – she would have preplanned before their arrival. But nothing could be done; she asked them innocently; ‘Officers, please can I make a call?’ ‘Madam we … Continue reading WHITE TOILET And baby – Stella (Part 2) → from NaijaStories.com http://ift.tt/2geghRD

YOU broke my CD yesterday Brymo’s raspy voice spilled out lamenting about merchants, wicked dealers and slaves it was an accident I put too much pepper that night You ate, sweated and cried drinking two bottles of chilled water I cannot measure well You forget your phone a lot more these days and I see […] from Brittle Paper http://ift.tt/2gCZHaW

…they said a boy once waited at the center of your prayer.   [On 17th of February, 2016, the alleged gay, Akinnifesi Olumide Olubunmi, was beaten in Ondo, Nigeria by a group of youths. He died of internal injuries a day after.] *** For Olumide. I saw you trembling at the eyes of men and […] from Brittle Paper http://ift.tt/2gCTnjJ

On the aft side of the blade, nestled between lilac onion ringlets, lay her finger, a gristled topping.   SHE hadn’t expected to feel the disappointment in her heart when the computer-generated voice from the video game said she had lost. It said it over and over, the letters flashing repeatedly on the TV screen […] from Brittle Paper http://ift.tt/2gCUIr0

George Plimpton (center, top) and Ernest Hemingway (center) at a bullfight. Castro’s death has renewed an open, vibrant, and sometimes heated debate about his regime and its treatment of Cuban citizens. Twenty years ago, in the aftermath of the Cold War, much less was known in the U.S.—these were not things the American media dwelled upon. An incident while working at The Paris Review with George Plimpton in the early nineties opened my eyes, especially to Che Guevara’s supervision of the detention of political prisoners at La Cabana prison in Havana. One day, at the office on East Seventy-Second Street, perusing the catalog of Grove Press’s forthcoming books, I spotted a title about which I’d heard nothing— The Motorcycle Diaries , by Che Guevara, which had been published in Cuba in the sixties but had never appeared in English. It seemed a long shot, but from the description of it as a travelogue with an unusual provenance, I thought a piece from it might be something f...

This week, Taschen is publishing a new, photographic edition of Tom Wolfe’s 1968 classic  The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test ,  for which he embedded with Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters for their transcontinental (and very psychotropically enhanced) bus tour.  Printed in a limited run of 1,968 copies, the new edition features never-before-seen facsimile reproductions of Wolfe’s manuscript pages; excerpts from Ken Kesey’s jailhouse journals; handbills and ephemera from the period; and photo-essays from Lawrence Schiller and Ted Streshinsky, who covered “the acid scene” for Life magazine and the New York Herald Tribune , respectively . Below are a few of the photos and documents from the book. Tomorrow evening, Tuesday, November 29, Wolfe will appear in conversation with Paul Holdengräber at the New York Public Library . Original manuscript page for The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test , complete with Tom Wolfe’s doodles and corrections, ca. 1967. The author...

Do not adjust your sets: theparisreview.org has been fully redesigned and beautified. If you fear change, you’ll be horrified to learn that this new site is more than just a cosmetic improvement: it also marks the debut of our complete digital archive, making available each and every piece from The Paris Review ’s sixty-three-year history. Subscribe now and you can start reading 0ur back issues right away; you can also try a free ten-day trial period . Now, you can read every short story and poem, every portfolio, every hastily doodled authorial self-portrait , and every introductory notice from the unassailable George Plimpton, who used to use the front of the magazine to brag about its ever-longer masthead . (“It is extremely difficult to extricate oneself—rather like being stuck in a bramble bush.”) As always, our full Writers at Work interview series , which dates back to 1953, is freely available. This week, watch this space to get a sample of some of our favorite wr...

1. Standing at the DMV counter for a new license, I grit my teeth against a vivid mental picture of my mangled body being pulled from a car wreck. I am about to check “yes” for organ donor. As pen hits paper, I shudder at images of sharp tools flashing at the accident scene, removing my eyeballs and kidneys. I resist the urge to ask the clerk behind the counter if the medics will absolutely ensure I’m dead before removing my organs. My fear is mitigated by knowing that there is such great need for organs; I’ve recently learned this by teaching bioethics to nursing and premedical students. When the shiny plastic card is handed to me, I look at the tiny blue heart enclosing “Organ Donor” in red and feel a flush of satisfaction: I’ve done the right thing . Two recent books, Karen Russell’s Sleep Donation and Margaret Atwood’s The Heart Goes Last , probe our conflicted feelings about giving parts of ourselves to others. Russell’s novella uses the delightfully sly conceit of an insomni...

The aftermath of the Boston Molasses Disaster. In January 1919, a freak molasses accident claimed the lives of twenty-one people in Boston: a steel holding tank burst open, flooding the streets (and the nation’s nightmares) with 2.3 million gallons of treacle. Scientists have never really figured out why the spill was so deadly, but a team of researchers from the American Physical Society have an idea, writes Erin McCann: “ By studying the effects of cold weather on molasses, the researchers determined that the disaster was more fatal in the winter than it would have been during a warmer season . The syrup moved quickly enough to cover several blocks within seconds and thickened into a harder goo as it cooled, slowing down the wave but also hindering rescue efforts … the cooler temperature of the outside air raised the viscosity of the molasses, essentially trapping people who had not been able to escape the wave. About half the people who were killed ‘died basically because they w...

The shopping season, er, holiday season is upon us! The Millions is here for you, once again, with a gift guide catered to the readers, writers, and literary folks in your life. Enjoy! Book Perfume This “fresh, woodsy scent”, actually called “Book” , is for both men and women. According to its perfumer, Book is meant “to recapture the experience of yesterday; turning the pages and breathing in the smell of dry paper mingling in with the open fresh air.” (There are also perfumes inspired by Whiskey, Gin, and Tea, some other things popular with writers.) If perfume is too risky, another option is this “Book” candle , inspired by the “mellow, comforting fragrance of aged paper, ink and leather.” A Literary Map of the United States This clever map places authors in the regions they write from, and will undoubtedly inspire you to check out some new writers. Discerning readers may quibble with the placement of writers, but that’s part of the fun of it. A Postcard From a Favo...

And so after the heated BBC Newsnight interview where Adichie had to dish out an epic lecture on white and gender privilege to R. Emmett Tyrell Jr. (“I’m sorry, but as a white man, you don’t get to define what racism is”), and the founding editor of the conservative The American Spectator responded by penning an […] from Brittle Paper http://ift.tt/2fDEa13

“She’ll be fine Chief and Mrs Olakitan, there’s nothing you should worry your head about.” The doctor who had attended to Lara explained to both parents immediately he stepped out. “She’s lucky she didn’t cut a major blood vessel or you would have lost her. By tomorrow morning, she’ll be able to come home with … Continue reading Beautiful Wings – (2) → from NaijaStories.com http://ift.tt/2gxe840

An unwanted member of a community Mustn’t raise a song, Even if he has the most sonorous voice. The man they desire to roast Shouldn’t cream his body with oil. We are sons of the soil. We drank from the streams And lived on the proceeds of the soil. Call us the natives! We conquered … Continue reading The Natives → from NaijaStories.com http://ift.tt/2fr6wjN

We are delighted to host Yemisi Aribisala, the author of Longthroat Memoirs: Soup, Sex, and Nigerian Tastebuds. Brittle Paper is the first stop in her week-long blog tour publicizing her amazing new book of essay about Nigerian food and culinary culture. As promised, we have an exclusive peek into the book. Scroll down to read […] from Brittle Paper http://ift.tt/2fr4S1C

For the solely fact that We are created with a black skin doesn’t mean We should be reasoning in a manner that is black. How can We do away with our self esteem so easily and continue wallowing in the pit of self pity.  I am referring to  that chronic disease of “inferiority complex” that … Continue reading We are Unique in Our Own Way. → from NaijaStories.com http://ift.tt/2fHmSUh

When I was first asked to write this piece, the issues of the day included the trendy acceptance of feminism through Chimamanda Adichie’s delightful viral TED talk, the resulting print pamphlet that has achieved its own notable virality across Europe, and a high profile appearance of the author on the fashion red carpet. Also in […] from Brittle Paper http://ift.tt/2fHkdtD