Treehouse

compiled by Rachel Bondurant

People seem to be making a fuss over this interview with Claire Messud about the main character of her novel The Woman Upstairs. Apparently the question about whether Messud would befriend her character is not the kind of question one might ask a male writer, or so that seems to be the complaint. That’s not why I’m linking it. I’m linking it for this: “If you’re reading to find friends, you’re in deep trouble. We read to find life, in all its possibilities.” I wouldn’t go so far as to say I know why everyone reads, but there’s something there.

Attack of the Copy Editor at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.Vigilantes for grammatical justice.

The Atlantic asks “What’s in a name?” and tries to find their answers from NPR’s reporters.

In The Rumpus, Elissa Bassist offers her take on the “American Woman Novelist,” at least as far as Wikipedia is concerned.

Fiction recommendation comes from The Collagist this week. It’s called “A Humiliation of Sparrows” by Michael Stewart.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.