The Independent Scholar

The Independent Scholar - May 3, 2026

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In this week's issue:

  • Pre-publication Salinger letters surface at the New York antiquarian book fair — what he asked his editor to hide from reviewers
  • Siri Hustvedt's memoir of her 43-year marriage to Paul Auster, including 35 pages of his unfinished final writing
  • A London-based independent press, African-owned and Black and woman-led, lands on the Women's Prize shortlist for the first time in 30 years
  • Andrea Long Chu's Authority in paperback — and her charge that Maggie Nelson and Zadie Smith are guilty of "complacent humanism"
  • An essay arguing that literate culture has become a threatened subculture in a world now dominated by video and audio

    • Worth your Sunday morning.

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    The Independent ScholarBy Julia Murphy