March 2, 2016
Clowns and War Stories (Part One)
In last week’s New York Times, Jason Zinoman wrote about sad and creepy clowns.* His central question: “How did red noses become such bad news?” Zinoman identifies the late ’80s […]
February 28, 2015
Gut-Wrenching Moments and Moments of Sweetness in Chekov’s Kashtanka and HBO’s Jonah From Tonga
My friend Cecilia has a name for the type of art that is primarily tragic and yet ends well: the hard-won happy ending. Many of my favorite works start off […]
March 22, 2014
Chekhov. Carver.
Paging through Tom Nissley’s recent (and wonderful) A Reader’s Book of Days, I’m reminded that March 22 marks the start of the action in “Errand,” the last story that Raymond […]