More from the Current Issue of Vanity Fair

The current (October 2011) issue of Vanity Fair is a treasury of information and good writing about authors and books. In addition to the article on Hemingway’s long-lost letters that I wrote about yesterday, the issue contains three other fascinating articles of literary interest:
1. One article tells the story of how Chad Harbach’s current bestselling and critically well-received baseball novel, “The Art of Fielding,” was written and published. The article describes the long, slow evolution of the book, and in the process illuminates many aspects of today’s struggling publishing industry.
2. A brief article focuses on Joan Didion’s new book (due next month), “Blue Nights,” about the tragic death of her daughter, and about her memories of her daughter, Quintana Roo Dunne Michael, at a much too young age. This death came almost immediately after the death of Didion’s husband, the writer John Gregory Dunne; Didion described that sudden death, and the year after it, in her bestselling 2005 book, “The Year of Magical Thinking.” That book was a heartrending portrayal of loss and pain, and of the ways that humans cope with great grief. I am an admirer of Didion’s writing, and although this new book is sure to be painful to read, I will definitely read it.
3. Finally, the magazine offers us a short excerpt from Cambridge University Press’ upcoming second volume of Samuel Beckett’s letters. The excerpt here is from a 1954 letter in which Beckett remembers his relationship with James Joyce. He speaks highly of that great writer, saying that although in some ways they were very different, Joyce “showed me the greatest kindness and generosity,” and “gave me…an insight into what the words ‘to be an artist’ mean.” Beckett concludes, “I think of him with unqualified admiration, affection, and gratitude.” I love reading about the relationships among writers, and this portrait of such a relatioship was inspiring and touching.