The New Yorker lists "Top 20 Writer Under 40," we avoid coffee shops
By Ray RahmanJune 3rd, 2010, 5:30 amComments (4)
The New Yorker released its "20 Best Writers Under 40" to a bit of buzz today. Nearly all the writers from their last list — from Jonathan Franzen to Jhumpa Lahiri — have gone on to bigger and better things, which means that the twenty youngsters on this year's list (ZZ Packer, Karen Russell, et al.) have a lot to look forward to. It also means that one bazillion minus twenty young writers have something new to be cranky about.
With that in mind, here are some good spots to avoid today:
- Coffee shops. Sure, you want your latté, but spending the extra few minutes to make your own coffee will save you from hearing about how brilliant the tattooed barista's manuscript is.
- Video stores. Video store clerks have more opinions than there are things to have opinions on. Skip the Jonathan Safran Foer lecture and hit up the DVR today.
- Iowa Writers' Workshop. just as a general rule, actually.
- HTMLGIANT. Or really, most literary blogs/tumblrs/comment boards. In fact, go ahead and avoid these for a while, lest you want to get too caught up in Snark Week.
- Dave Eggers' house. Not that we don't like him, but we haven't had our latté today and couldn't handle his wistful enthusiasm. Besides, he probably doesn't have DVR.
Commentarium (4 Comments)
I like Joshua Ferris, he's the only one I had even heard of on this list. Cool that a 28 year old made it. HTML Giant is a scary place.
C.E. Morgan and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie are my two favourite writing 'discoveries' over the past two years. So glad to see them getting further recognition.
Jhumpa Lahiri really is a beautiful writer - I followed her work from the time she was a publishing novice. It really gives all writers something to work toward: reading the names and works of such young authors who have aspired to The New Yorker so young in life.
Woot, I will certnaily put this to good use!
Now you say something