PEN READS: THE HOUR OF THE STAR

PEN READS: THE HOUR OF THE STAR A new entry has been posted at PEN Reads, an online reading group that brings together readers and writers to discuss works of literature relevant to PEN's mission. In our second post, Ben Moser, award-winning author of the Clarice Lispector biography Why This World, explores his and others' fascination with the Brazilian author. In the first post, Colm Tóibín compared reading the novel to "being brought backstage during the performance of a play and allowed odd glimpses of the actors and the audience." I Am All of Yourselves by Ben Moser Over the five years I worked on Why This World, my biography of Clarice Lispector, I got used to hearing people say: But I've never heard of her. And I would say: That's the whole point. One of the fun things about being a writer or a critic or a journalist is the chance to steer other people toward your enthusiasms, and to help put artists on the map who haven't received the attention they deserve. I hoped that my biography would make people see just how great Clarice Lispector was, and why I was ready to give up several years of my life in order to study and write about her. I did, however, have a secret weapon: I knew I wasn't the only one. Read the entire post and join the discussion online at PEN.org

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