Soup and Salad: The Best American Writer You Don't Know, Banging Out Words With Ben Marcus, Kids & Typewriters, 100 Actual Titles of Real 18th-Century Novels, Dumps and Death Threats and Book Tours, The Beauty of Josh Weil's Glass Sea, Zadie Smith's Readin

On today's menu:

1.  ”Why should I let best-seller lists spoil a happy life?”  That's William Maxwell with some practical advice for writers, as quoted at Head Butler , Jesse Kornbluth's never-disappointing blog about arts and culture.  With something akin to stabbing an icicle into my conscience, Mr. Kornbluth reminds me that I still haven't read Maxwell's acclaimed 135-page novel So Long, See You Tomorrow .  What the hell is wrong with me?  It's not like I don't have t...