Claire Messud on ambition
Here’s a good interview with Claire Messud, author of The Emperor’s Children, on the Kenyon Review blog. So is ambition ever justified? There’s always something… Read More »Claire Messud on ambition
Editor
John Gardner on detail
“In addition to watching the rhythm of his scene–the tempo or pace–the writer pays close attention, in constructing the scene, to the relationship, in each… Read More »John Gardner on detail
good advice from Frederick Barthelme
Frederick Barthelme’s The 39 Steps: A Primer on Story Writing, begins: Step one in the great enterprise of a new and preferable you in the… Read More »good advice from Frederick Barthelme
economy
Here is one of the most economical sentence pairings I’ve come across in a while: He couldn’t remember his wife clearly–only the hats she wore.… Read More »economy
Romney Schell, At the Disco (1979)
I found myself wandering around Midtown, nearly 3:00am on a Tuesday night, finally single, finally alone. The town that never sleeps was asleep, and the… Read More »Romney Schell, At the Disco (1979)
Hong Kong Karma
by Kevin Brown
for Suk Kuen Chow The summer I realized girls didn’t have cooties, my father died of liver failure. I was not present at my father’s… Read More »Hong Kong Karma
by Kevin Brown
graham greene on the importance of superficiality
“So much in writing depends on the superficiality of one’s days. One may be preoccupied with shopping and income tax returns and chance conversations, but… Read More »graham greene on the importance of superficiality
selection: the memoirist’s dilemma
“…a detective must find it as important as a novelist to amass his trivial material before picking out the right clue. But how difficult that… Read More »selection: the memoirist’s dilemma
Feet
by Todd Chapman
I’ll settle for the color of skin. Skin is the color of his skin, which is my skin, and one day while running my skin… Read More »Feet
by Todd Chapman
Run Away
by Jay Boyer
That is not true. Mommy did not call you an asshole. Mommy does not use that kind of language. Not with her little girl, who… Read More »Run Away
by Jay Boyer