I used to opine that contemporary literature was very bad, that most books were slop, etc. And I still think there are plenty of bad books. But then I purposefully expanded my reading, and I was surprised by what I found. There is, in fact, a very vibrant world of books out there, if you bother to go looking for it

I bought the latest Knausgaard the day it was released. I get monthly books from Deep Vellum (you should donate to them, if you can). Dalkey Archive is reissuing Gass’ The Tunnel in just a few days. More literature is available in translation than ever before, and you can read the amazing work coming out of Latin America even if you don’t speak Spanish or Portuguese.

It’s probably never been easier to find good books to read.