I have always been envious of writers who are able to effectively render the natural world. I grew up in the city so in some sense, nature is a foreign land to me. It is, however, a foreign land in … Continue reading →
Does this work for you: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou are more lovely and more temperate Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And Summer’s lease hath all too short a date: How about … Continue reading →
One of the compliments that my fiction writing sometimes receives is the natural sounding dialogue. While any writer will swoon over even the slightest compliment, when someone praises my dialogue, I can’t help but think of that Dolly Parton line, … Continue reading →
This morning I was reading a New York Times review of Cheever: A Life, Blake Bailey’s new biography of John Cheever, and I was reminded of the recent passing of John Updike. For me, it is nearly impossible to think … Continue reading →
This week at Salon.com, Allen Barra has published a review of a new biography of Flannery O’Connor. My first encounter with O’Connor was as a freshman English major in college, when I read “A Good Man is Hard to Find” … Continue reading →
