I love this book. And everyone I speak with loves this book. The stories are simply amazing. You can find “Hell-Heaven” on DailyLit (for free) here.

And in case you don’t believe me, check out what others are saying:

“Powerful….Profound….Haunting.”
—Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Ferociously good…acutely observed…These are unforgettable people, their stories unforgettably well told.”
—Elaina Richardson, O, The Oprah Magazine

“Stunning…”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Happy birthday, Jhumpa — and thanks for giving us the best gift ever!

As for what Joyce would have thought of all this, I love this quote from James Quin of the Joyce Center in Dublin. I hope it inspires you to celebrate!

“If you look back to 1954, Bloomsday was seen to be the preserve of a group of loons and drinkers, people like Patrick Kavanagh and Flann O’Brien, who weren’t considered very respectable people in Ireland by any standard of that time. Joyce fitted perfectly with them, and they fitted perfectly with Joyce…. Joyce would have loved it. Bloomsday isn’t high-falutin’, it isn’t academic, it isn’t reserved for a certain class of person. Ulysses is about ordinary people, ordinary lives, ordinary days. But those ordinary days make up lives that are lived, and lived through storytelling in the ways we create our own stories around us all the time.”–James Quin of the James Joyce Centre, Dublin, Ireland, in the National Post

Which character’s path from which book would you like to retrace?

Share your ideas in our Question of the Week forum.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 32
Chris Adrian, 39
Daniel Alarcón, 33
David Bezmozgis, 37
Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, 38
Joshua Ferris, 35
Jonathan Safran Foer, 33
Nell Freudenberger, 35
Rivka Galchen, 34
Nicole Krauss, 35
Dinaw Mengestu, 31
Philipp Meyer, 36
C E Morgan, 33
Téa Obreht, 24
Yiyun Li, 37
ZZ Packer, 37
Karen Russell, 28
Salvatore Scibona, 35
Gary Shteyngart, 37
Wells Tower, 37

Cheers—to a very happy birthday, DailyLit!

Susan Danziger
Founder and CEO, DailyLit
sdanziger [at] dailylit [dot] com

Bestselling Heroes For My Son by Brad Meltzer
When his first son was born bestselling author Brad Meltzer set out to create a list of people whose courage and achievements would inspire his son: Abraham Lincoln, Amelia Earhart, Rosa Parks, Jim Henson, Mohammed Ali (52 heroes in all). You can discover and share the lives of those who have changed our world in this bestselling collection of stories. Thanks to our sponsor, HarperStudio, you can read them all here.

Reader Challenge: Your Own Hero
Inspired by the bestselling book, Heroes For My Son, this month’s Reader Challenge encourages you to share your own hero. In 50 words or fewer, tell us why this person means so much to you. We’ll select our three favorites, each of whom will receive a signed copy of Heroes For My Son. Be sure to post your hero in our Reader Challenge Forum by Sunday, June 6th at 11:59pm EST to be considered.

Big Read: Robin Hood
With a reimagined version of “Robin Hood” hitting theaters this month—and judging from the previews this Robin Hood will not be wearing tights—we decided to revisit Sherwood Forest for our Big Read. Check out Chapter One—”How Robin Hood Became an Outlaw”—here.

Crazy Busy Beautiful by Carmindy
On the hit show “What Not To Wear” makeup artist Carmindy gives makeover subjects the finishing touches that, as anyone who’s seen the show can attest, make all the difference. Her new book, Crazy Busy Beautiful, shares the beauty tips that make her clients look so good—and we’ve got a taste, courtesy of our sponsor HarperStudio. Find it here.

Finally, to get us all in the mood for summer, here’s a poem by Emily Dickinson:

A something in a summer’s Day

A something in a summer’s Day
As slow her flambeaux burn away
Which solemnizes me.

A something in a summer’s noon—
A depth—an Azure—a perfume—
Transcending ecstasy.

And still within a summer’s night
A something so transporting bright
I clap my hands to see—

Then veil my too inspecting face
Lets such a subtle—shimmering grace
Flutter too far for me—

The wizard fingers never rest—
The purple brook within the breast
Still chafes it narrow bed—

Still rears the East her amber Flag—
Guides still the sun along the Crag
His Caravan of Red—

So looking on—the night—the morn
Conclude the wonder gay—
And I meet, coming thro’ the dews
Another summer’s Day!

Heroes For My Son is being published today and the full book is available for free on DailyLit thanks to our sponsor, HarperStudio. Enjoy!

Twain goes on to detail the rules of fiction and literature that Cooper breaks, and the problem after problem (after problem) apparent in The Deerslayer. Here’s my favorite passage:

In his little box of stage-properties he kept six or eight cunning devices, tricks, artifices for his savages and woodsmen to deceive and circumvent each other with, and he was never so happy as when he was working these innocent things and seeing them go. A favorite one was to make a moccasined person tread in the tracks of a moccasined enemy, and thus hide his own trail. Cooper wore out barrels and barrels of moccasins in working that trick. Another stage-property that he pulled out of his box pretty frequently was the broken twig. He prized his broken twig above all the rest of his effects, and worked it the hardest. It is a restful chapter in any book of his when somebody doesn’t step on a dry twig and alarm all the reds and whites for two hundred yards around. Every time a Cooper person is in peril, and absolute silence is worth four dollars a minute, he is sure to step on a dry twig. There may be a hundred other handier things to step on, but that wouldn’t satisfy Cooper. Cooper requires him to turn out and find a dry twig; and if he can’t do it, go and borrow one. In fact, the Leatherstocking Series ought to have been called the Broken Twig Series.

Whether you agree with Twain’s critiques or not, this is the liveliest piece of literary criticism you’ve seen in a while, no?. You can read the whole essay here–and I’d recommend it. Twain’s tongue has never been sharper.

Head to our Question of the Week forum to join the conversation.

Looking good, Will.

Carolyn Kellog of Jacket Copy was the first to bestow the “hot young” label on him, but she’s got a point, right? Especially given the images we’re used to:

Not so young and hot.

Appearances aside, the portrait was confirmed (90% likelihood) to be Shakespeare last March, and it’s the only known portrait of Shakespeare painted during his lifetime. He was 46 when he sat for it, and if you think he looks exceptionally youthful for a 46 year old, The Guardian may have an explanation for you:

That the painting looks more like a 26-year-old than a 46-year-old — Shakespeare’s age when it was likely painted — may be down to the convention of the time when a painter should “polish out the wrinkles and increase the size of the pearls,” according to Mark Broch, curator of the Cobbe collection. It seems likely the Earl of Southampton commissioned the Cobbe portrait, emphasising once more his closeness to Shakespeare.

In spite of the 16th century Photoshop alterations, it’s still pretty neat to see this portrait. It’s a much more human-looking Shakespeare than we’re used to seeing; since he possessed such incredible genius and has become such a legend, being reminded that he was one man, with quill and parchment, makes you reflect on just how remarkable his achievement is.