January 1, 2016
Have I Told You About This?
An excerpt from Thomas Murphy, appearing this month from Ecco/HarperCollins. Have I told you about this? The day they dropped the giant turf? It never happened, of course, but […]
January 1, 2016
The Dalai Lama’s Smile
Morris receives his Christmas card nearly two weeks after what happened. The note from his son, Toby, says that work with the Tibetan monk is going well; it says the […]
November 1, 2015
Isography
We, the monks who paint the icons, do not live in the Stavrovouni Monastery proper but at the foot of its mountain in the Metochi Agia Varvara, or the Dependency […]
November 1, 2015
This Is What We Could Have Been
Army rangers patrolled the school’s perimeter, Kalashnikovs tight against chests. Nadeem had to fight his way through an assault of argument and barricades to the commotion within: parents jostling, wailing, […]
November 1, 2015
The Five-Pound Burrito
The Five-Pound Burrito He lived in a world of grease, and no matter how often he bathed, which was once a day, rigorously—and no shower but a drawn bath—he smelled […]
November 1, 2015
Sorry
The roads were lightly iced when Tom Lahey and I pulled up at dawn to the vacant lot on Lily Lane. It had snowed earlier, three or four inches of […]
September 1, 2015
The Sacred Gifts of Cows and Cheetahs
1 In the space of one week I become a we. I make love to my Austinite atop a graveyard of barbecue ribs after a family gathering at his ranch […]
September 1, 2015
Fleuve Bleu
Midafternoon, late autumn, bars of spangled light on the river, he was crossing the bridge on the pedestrian walkway fluttering with flags when he’d first seen her, not knowing it […]
September 1, 2015
After Lola
After her daughter left, God came to Pauline, slipping stealthily into her house like a backdoor man. She had been washing dishes and a glass slipped from her hands and […]
July 1, 2015
Nature Preserve
There were three spots on the parks commission in the township election, and no one ran for the third, so it could be said that Cecil and Ross each won […]
July 1, 2015
Labyrinth Two
In the photograph, they are not looking at the camera. They seem unaware that their picture is being taken. Left to right, they are Franco, Eliane, Sergio, and Daphne. The […]
July 1, 2015
The Other Daughter
On the cruise, my sister and I eat Crab Imperial and play mini golf on AstroTurf and try our luck at roulette. We listen to the ching of slot machines […]