"We hate it when our friends become successful." And what of our Moz? The peerlessly wry Smiths frontman and solo artist recently published his autobiography on the Penguin Classics imprint—making it, at least in marketing terms, a "'classic' before it's even been read," says Reuters. Both Pitchfork and the Guardian give brief run-downs of the book itself.
Does it deserve the classic tag, or is it simply laughable (a ha ha-ha-ha ha)? At the Telegraph, Neil McCormick says this: "I am not sure anyone is an entirely reliable narrator of his own life but Morrissey seems, at least, to have a comprehension of what makes him both so fascinating as an artist and difficult as a human being."
Two collections of authors' desks, from the New York Times (Jonathan Lethem, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Jesmyn Ward included) and Random House. And speaking of: Submit your writing space to the Woodshop!
Narrative is accepting submissions for two of its top prizes: Writers of all genres should consider sending their pieces to the magazine's "30 Below" contest, and prose writers should consider the Fall Story contest. All entires are considered for the magazine's $4,000 Narrative prize. Here's the contests link.