Where the Action Was
This was the canonical American art for which the claim "you had to be there" seemed strongest ...
Archive
Stephen Potter: Life Among the Acquaintances
The Potter voice: that mock-pedantic tone of winning modesty and warm condescension.
Channeling Georg Trakl: Christian Hawkey's "Ventrakl"
A "ghostly reanimation" of the poet's textual presence; translation gives way to transposition, to citational graft and recycling.
Skin Deep
Word and line can marry enticingly in the art of tattoo.
The Sign
It is almost entirely abstract.
The Bridge
Beauty linked to life and death.
It's Good to be King
King's technical expertise as a writer is almost impossible to ignore, regardless of how one feels about stories involving man-eating oil slicks.
The MFA Octopus: Four Questions about Creative Writing
Is contemporary fiction really so mediocre?
Marilynalia
Despite how much she has been dissected, analyzed, and worshipped, something about Marilyn Monroe remains forever elusive.
One Inch Above the Ground
There’s a voice that, while still a bit controlled, opens on to something savage, even ugly.
A Malaise Deeper Than Shopping
Until the end of his life, Ballard insisted that science fiction was the most important form of literature to emerge during the twentieth century.
Heart of Stone: Keith Richards' "Life"
One of the most dynamic and least recognized songwriters of his time.
Mr. Sublimation
By now we are tired of thinking about Freedom.
Smiling with Gritted Teeth
More polarizing than any other aspect of Franzen's writing... is just how merciless he can be.
Saving Folks, Solving Mysteries: Margaret Stohl's "Zora and Me"
Where do writers come from? Even though it's fictionalized, witnessing the birth of Zora the storyteller feels like a privilege.
Life is Short; Art is Shorter
Every life, properly understood, is compelling.