The rumors are true: Emoji God is dead. Why oh why do you hate us, Tim Cook? What did Prayer Hands Emoji truthers ever do to you? To this, and other acts of technological religious eradication, we say: Long live Emoji God.

In this week’s Sunday Book Review, Zoë Heller and Adam Kirsch weigh the importance of an author’s intended meaning versus a reader’s interpretation of the text. Which is more important, they ask. “If a text can mean anything the reader wants it to mean, then why read it in the first place?” Kirsch argues. “Isn’t literature supposed to help us achieve contact with other minds, rather than trapping us in a hall of mirrors, in which we can see only our own distorted reflections? Surely there must be limits to a text’s ­interpretability.” I instantly thought of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man—the 1952 epic that confronts America’s twisted legacy of identity politics, race, black nationalism, and class disillusionment. “I am an invisible man,” it begins. And depending on the reader, the ensuing 500 pages present a multitude of revelations, answers, or questions (or a mix of the three). Yet, no matter which way you interpret the book, its true essence is found, time and again, in the first sentence—all conclusions root back to Ellison’s opening line. “Great works of literature are like stars,” Kirsch concludes, “they stay put, even as we draw them into new constellations.”

To summarize: Brooklyn continued its transformation into a refuge for the one percent. Rafael Nadal was upset and Novak Djokovic advanced to the Australian Open final. Marshawn Lynch Marshawn Lynched. A Detroit rapper partnered with a Toronto rapper and released a powerhouse of a song. Jared Leto FLAME CAAAAARR became a thing. Official Government Person John Kerry broke the neighborhood social contract and now owes the fair city of Boston $50. Longtime Illuminati chairwoman Oprah turned 61 (she's still got it!). Soon-to-be Attorney General Loretta Lynch put on a masterclass at the Senate Judiciary confirmation hearings. Taylor Swift and Nick Jonas shared some DMs. Babies bugged out. Oh, and crazy Uncle Johnny started drinking again. What a week.