Rebecca Makkai

1 month ago | terryfreedman.substack.com | Terry Freedman |Rebecca Makkai

In which Terry waxes lyrical about the New Yorker Fiction podcast, Samuel Johnson, and Lifemanship, and has a rant about wrongly-used words. I say, Madam Rebecca, things are looking up, what? The sun is shining, meaning we can top up the old tan, and go promenading and meet other chaps and chapesses. Oops, sorry, Rebecca. I was temporarily taken over by the spirit of Bertie Wooster. Anyway, thank you for your delightful epistle, which I shall endeavour to answer in a full and frank manner.

2 months ago | nytimes.com | Rebecca Makkai

Maybe we all got fed up at the same time. Last week, Sean Manning, the publisher of Simon & Schuster's flagship imprint, announced that it would no longer "require" authors to procure blurbs for their books. This news came just weeks after I told my own circles in a Substack post that I was exiting the world of blurbing for at least two years - a message prompting comments and emails from authors who've recently made a similar decision, or wish they could.

Jan 16, 2025 | lyz.substack.com | Rebecca Makkai

Last year, after the election, I was asked to teach a class for StoryStudio in Chicago, which is run by the endlessly talented . The topic of the class I taught was writing political essays and I titled it “The Personal is Political.”The phrase "the personal is political" was popularized by the publication of feminist activist Carol Hanisch's 1969 essay of the same title. The idea was and is that our lives and our experiences are products of the systems of power and politics that surround us.

Dec 10, 2024 | nytimes.com | Rebecca Makkai

Chicago is too big, enormous in both geography and spirit, to capture in its entirety. Locals understand this. If you find a book set in a nonspecific "Chicago" - a book purporting to take the whole place as its subject, or one that assumes downtown is the entire ethos - you know it was written by someone who only visits. To write well about Chicago is usually to write about specific blocks, buildings or ethnic enclaves.

Oct 29, 2024 | rebeccamakkai.substack.com | Rebecca Makkai

Here are four things I’m about to do:Honestly, two days before the election you’re going to want to be somewhere supportive and galvanizing. Hosted by chef/activist Rohini Dey at her legendary Chicago restaurant Vermillion, this event will feature the above women standing on a literal soapbox (Will I fall off? Maybe!) and talking briefly about policy. Not “Hey, we should vote,” but specific info and calls to action that will be vital no matter what happens on 11/5.