TODAY: In 1953, James Baldwin’s Go Tell It On the Mountain is published.   “She wrote for everyone who has let the sharp edge of regret dull into a daily ache, who has been surprised by love, by need, by the desire for more.” Jonny Diamond on seeing his mother in Alice Munro. | Lit Hub Criticism This one’s for the Yinzers. Ed Simon on the Glaswegian...

Many pitfalls and impediments lay between you and a day of enjoying your book in peace. Can you manage to get past everything arrayed against you? Choose wisely! Your phone buzzes. A text: “Hey we’re all headed out to the beach this Saturday. You should come!” Even though you’re a bit of a beach hater — you don’t like the sun and it doesn’t like...

Since the 1930s, the annual Cannes international film festival has been a glamorous hub for new cinema. (And, according to an audacious claim on its website: the world’s “most widely publicized cultural event.”) While the festival’s carefully cultivated position at the apex of High Culture masks what I imagine are brutal behind-the-scenes distribution...

According to the powers that be (er, apparently according to Dan Wickett of the Emerging Writers Network), May is Short Story Month. To celebrate, for the second year in a row, the Literary Hub staff will be recommending a single short story, free* to read online, every (work) day of the month. Why not read along with us? Today, we recommend: “The...

TODAY: In 1900, L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is published.   How do you write a story that’s for you? Anna Noyes on writing “the kind of book that keeps me awake.” | Lit Hub Craft Jessie Rosen recommends a reading list of superstitions, featuring Jennifer Weiner, Yangsze Choo, Morgan Jerkins, and more. | Lit Hub Reading Lists Claire...

Claire Messud’s This Strange Eventful History, Adam Higginbotham’s Challenger, Miranda July’s All Fours, and Hari Kunzru’s Blue Ruin all feature among the best reviewed books of the week. Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s home for book reviews. * Fiction 1. This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud (W. W. Norton & Company) 14...