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 →
And I think of John Updike, who illuminated private lives and wrote so lovingly of the world, who called snowfall "an immense whispering" and compared a brilliant snowy day to overdeveloped film. Who re-created the backyards and clotheslines of small-town … Continue reading →
