Random links: For your surfing pleasure

Literary magazines, summer issues: On newsstands are new issues of some fine literary magazines you may--or may not--have heard about. The Stinging Fly is the leading literary magazine and publisher for young Irish writers. Its editor, Declan Mead, is something of the kingpin of the young writers’ scene in Dublin. The new issue includes an interview with M.J. Hyland as well as new stories by A.L. Kennedy and poems by Graham Allen, Mary Rose Callan, Noel Conneely and others.

The centerpiece of Paris Review’s summer issue is an interview with Norman Mailer; the issue also includes fresh fiction by André Aciman and poetry by some newcomer named Charles Baudelaire.
The New England Review, out of Middlebury College, includes an excerpt from Gino Segrè’s new book "Faust in Copenhagen," published by Viking, as well as Francis-Noel Thomas’ thoughts on mortality, prompted by his reading of Julien Green’s diary.

The delightful Poetry, founded long ago by Harriet Monroe, in 1912, continues to present a mix of new and familiar voices. But there’s also the unexpected: sports journalist Michael Lewis’ essay "Poetry in Motion: A Diary of the Collapse of the 2006 New York Giants" as well as David Orr’s delightful classical meditation on summer beach reading which leads us to an image of Menelaus’ battle with Proteus in the "Odyssey."

Reviews that make you say "ouch": Patrick Anderson, this week in the Washington Post, didn’t find much to praise in the crime novel "Self’s Deception" by Bernhard Schlink, translated from the German by Peter Constantine. Among his comments were: "This is one of the most discursive novels I’ve ever read. Let us note that Schlink has been both a judge and a law professor: This is a writer accustomed to captive audiences."

Kerouac contentiousness: As the 50th anniversary of the publication of "On the Road" nears (on Sept. 5), Kerouac biographer Gerald Nicosia is charging the estate of Jack Kerouac and the publisher Viking with attempting to erase his contributions to our understanding of this singular American writer.

Bacon as a writer’s motivation: Almost missed this one, a posting earlier this week on Bookslut about Peter Ho Davies and a method he once used to get himself motivated to write. He’s since given this up because, in the long run, eating too much bacon isn’t good for you.

Nick Owchar