Archive for March, 2010

Have a Happy and Literary St. Patrick’s Day

Today’s the day we’re all a little bit Irish. So before you grab your Guinness, why not check out some of the Emerald Isle’s best literary works: James Joyce’s Ulysses, or maybe Dubliners, which is a little more accessible (helpful after the first Guinness of the day). There’s also Oscar Wilde, best known for The Importance of Being Earnest and The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Jonathan Swift, whose Modest Proposal is perhaps the best-known work of satire in literature. He also wrote Gulliver’s Travels, of course, in case you want to read something that has miniature people in it in honor of Leprechauns. And an Irishman in America, F. Scott Fitzgerald, would also be a good choice (try The Beautiful and the Damned or one of his short stories from Tales from the Jazz Age).

Sláinte! (Cheers!)

Question of the Week #65: What Would You Do?

We’re curious to know what you’d do if you were in the DailyLit driver’s seat. Tell us how you’d finish this sentence:

If I ran DailyLit I would…

Share your response in our Question of the Week forum.

3 More Days to Enter “Love Bites” Reader Challenge

Our “Love Bites” reader challenge–where you tell a love story in under 140 characters, the length of a short sentence–ends this Sunday, March 7 at 11:59pm. We’ll select five winners, each of whom will receive a copy of Us: Americans Talk About Love. So think about your own love stories–past or present–or get your creative juices flowing and create an imaginary one. And hurry!

Don DeLillo in DailyLit’s Book Channel

Don DeLillo is a nothing short of a modern literary master. For the last few decades he’s been writing literary fiction that has earned him high praise, major awards, and the admiration of folks all over–including by me. I’m delighted to feature an excerpt from his newest novel, Point Omega, in our Book Channel this week.

Sign up for the DailyLit Book Channel for hand-picked recommendations and excerpts from great books like those selected for Oprah’s book club and the newest titles from bestselling authors.

Question of the Week #64: First Lines

We came across this fun list of famous opening lines to novels.

What’s your favorite first line? Share yours–and the reasons you love it–in our Question of the Week forum.