Over at BuzzFeed Books, I write about 11 modern librarians in contemporary literature that break away from the tropes normally associated with the term “librarian.” The list includes characters by Haruki Murakami, Rebecca Makkai, Jennine Capo Crucet, Laura van den Berg, Dan Chaon, and others.
I wrote about Dan Chaon’s latest, the short story collection Stay Awake, for Rain Taxi. My piece appears in the latest print issue, which came out last week. Chaon’s book is (spoiler alert) pretty excellent. It’s full of ghostly visions, falls from ladders, foster kids, mysterious messages, a parasitic conjoined twin head, a brain-damaged ex-husband, and, well, people trying to stay awake, both physically and metaphorically. Read all about it by picking up a copy of RT right here.
Benjamin Woodard 