“The Merchant of Venice” was a propagandistic obsession for the Third Reich.
“An ancient myth began to take on a life of its own and then took a remarkable turn: It gradually, for millions of people, became real.”
“Take the time to be brief.” That’s the advice Edith Pearlman, one of five finalists for the National Book Award in fiction, wants to give to young writers. Pearlman’s book, “Binocular Vision,” did not win, perhaps because a collection of short stories has not won since Andrea Barrett’s collection, “Ship Fever,” was victorious in 1996. This year, the award went to Jesmyn Ward for her novel “Salvage the Bones.”