One ill-fated night in December 1924, F. Scott Fitzgerald got into a drunken brawl that ended up in a Rome police station, where he punched an officer and was severely beaten by some others. In a letter to a friend ten years later, Fitzgerald described it as “the rottenest thing that ever happened in my … Read more
Dag Solstad, a Norwegian novelist who teased form and style to create a world of alienation and disenchantment, enthralling and sometimes baffling his compatriots, died on March 14 in Oslo. He was 83. His death, in a hospital after a heart attack, was announced on Facebook by his publisher, Forlaget Oktober. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr … Read more
Bruce M. Selya, a federal judge who issued more than 1,800 opinions and was celebrated (and occasionally chided) for a sesquipedalian writing style — that is, his use of long words that sent readers scrambling for a dictionary — died on Feb. 22 in Providence, R.I. He was 90. His family announced his death. A … Read more