Hey, Christopher Hitchens, if you see Mark Twain, ask him for his autograph. Mary Grabar, columnist for the conservative Townhall.com, has Hitchens pegged to join the other literary atheists in literal hell. According to Grabar, it’s their atheism that’s created miserable lives for some of our finest writers, such as Mark Twain, Sinclair Lewis, Edna St. Vincent Millay–and Theodore Dreiser, whose days, Grabar says, “seemed to be filled with meaningless sexual encounters, hostility from girlfriends, and frequent visits to a clinic for therapy and medication.” In true Coulter style, Grabar wonders if “upon the death of a spouse, perhaps (atheists) quickly dispense of the body and resume the pursuit of their next pleasure, which is the only solace they have in their little kingdoms of one.” Incidentally, Grabar is also a fiction writer and has a short story scheduled for publication in Ballyhoo Stories.
But there’s a little place in heaven for Dan Wickett, as far as we’re concerned. Dan’s celebration of Short Story Month at Emerging Writers Network includes a glowing review of Rebecca Kanner’s story “Byblis” from the Spring 2007 issue of KR. Kanner deftly shows us what a dark, desperate love can do through the eyes of multiple characters. Read it. Can’t find KR in your local bookstore? Order a copy online and the shipping is free. (Better yet, order a subscription.)