“It does come down to that moment, when as a reader or as a writer entering into a story we say — it’s not about me, it’s about you.” Alice McDermott’s Absolution shines a light on the dynamic lives of American women as they navigate the tumultuous era of the Vietnam War. McDermott joins us […]
“…Cynical as he is of the world that he encounters, he’s also pretty cynical and critical of himself. And that manifests itself in that sense of humor that you’re talking about not a light-hearted sense of humor, but a very cynical and dark sense of humor, a sense of the absurd.” Viet Thanh Nguyen, the […]
Faraway lands filled with exotic accents and mysterious strangers—one of the pleasures of reading is that it takes us places we might never see otherwise. While in real life I’ve only managed to see Europe twice, “armchair traveling” has let me journey across all seven continents—without the jet lag. This summer, pull up your own […]
Epigraphs are pretty versatile little literary devices. They can be the uncensored mouthpiece of an author. They are, at times, like an outside source brought in to demonstrate the author’s authority on a subject (ahem…Moby Dick). They can provide insight into the author’s inspiration, as in the case of the newspaper article quoted in Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian. They can be playful; a witty one-liner that encapsulate an […]
Of all the deadly sins, envy is the one that always feels terrible. The rest of them can feel natural, fun, satisfying, even good. I find sloth to be a most enjoyable sin, which pairs nicely with gluttony. Wrath, greed, or even lust often go undetected as sins by the person committing them, and in […]
