The oft-told origin story of Hobby Lobby is that one day in 1970, twenty-eight-year-old David Greene was sitting at a lunch counter in Oklahoma City and sharing frustrations with fellow managers. When they imagined what kind of enterprise they could create on their own, one suggested they make watches. David said, “I have a better
I work in the art department at HarperCollins, where I get a front row seat to the conversations that shape how books appear in the world. What kind of cover art reads as “literary” versus “commercial”, what signals a “book club book”, what feels “serious” versus “friendly”, and, increasingly, how to make a cover socially
“It’s just a question of whether you’re looking through a telescope or a microscope.” This first appeared in Lit Hub art of writing Newsletter—Sign up here. Article continues after ad I don’t work on an epic scale, although my ambitions run more to epic proportions than I’d like to admit.It is a question of focus.
Lisa Stardust on the influence of tarot and imagination according to smithsonian magazineSylvia Plath used the Tarot de Marseille deck, which her husband Ted Hughes had gifted her on her 24th birthday in 1956. It is believed that he also used the Rider-Waite deck. The original Tarot de Marseille cards were auctioned at Sotheby’s and
Featuring Colson Whitehead, Michael Cunningham, Claire Vaye Watkins and others Colson Whitehead’s great machineMichael Cunningham’s unsayableand Claire Vaye Watkins yellow pine All of these are among the best reviewed books of the week. Article continues after ad Brought to you by book marksLit Hub’s home for book reviews. * Imagination 1. great machine by Colson
In the twenty-first century, debates about the formation of an anti-Semitic category of Jews intensified following the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 and debates about colonialism, indigeneity, and ethnic identity. If one thinks of Jews as a diasporic category, the notions of “rooted” and “rootless” or bound and unmoored also come into
Maris Kreizman on the importance of a good reader Who is a better narrator for an audiobook: the book’s author or a professional voice actor? Article continues after ad trick question. The answer is both, and/or, it depends. Let’s leave non-fiction writing out of this discussion because I think almost any personal writing will benefit
When Dad and I went to Dallas for Mom’s funeral, Dad gave me his own disposable camera with twenty-four photos. I took two pictures from the window of the plane. I remember thinking that it looked as if animals made of diamonds were floating in water and breaking when they collided with each other. I
The best of literary internet Today: 1888 Raymond Chandler is born. “Classical culture is actually a lot of things, including rape culture.” on rebecca solnit odyssey and the Western literary tradition of silencing women. | lit hub criticism Kohei Saito examines why solutions rooted in capitalism will never stop climate change: “The metabolic relationship between
This month, a fresh adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s The Beloved little house on the prairie comes on netflix. The timing of the reboot is auspicious. 2026 saw the peak of the tradewife debate. And if walking through the streets of Brooklyn, a certain prairiecore aesthetic refuses to go quietly. Pioneer nostalgia tends to increase