July 9, 2016
Trump Card
I’m writing this post on a Wednesday morning, after having just read a spirited debate over the meaning of the Brexit vote in The New York Times. All five of […]
December 8, 2015
Trump, Saunders
Throughout the summer and into the fall, I felt that Donald Trump’s hijacking of the Republican storyline was pretty funny. Recently, it’s become less funny; and yesterday it stopped being […]
September 18, 2015
Mix tape: Mira Jacob’s speech, book festivals, long lists, short lists
Author Mira Jacob tried to give a speech for Publisher’s Weekly this week. When the sound system gave out, she stood on a chair and shouted. When no one heard […]
June 28, 2014
Send in the Contemporary American Comic Fiction Writers
In the June issue of The Atlantic, Julie Beck offers a quick roundup of some recent studies on laughter. My favorite, by far: “Women undergoing in vitro fertilization were 16 […]
January 1, 2014
Out with the Auld
Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Of course not, says experience, and conscience, and (answering his own question) Robert Burns. So we raise our cups o’ […]
December 25, 2013
Christmas, Festively
I’ve been thinking about a George Saunders story called “Christmas.” The narrator of the story is part of a roofing crew, a crew that includes a forty-two-year-old, down-on-his-luck, “gentle-voiced” man […]
August 10, 2013
Kindness and Attention (Part Two)
George Saunders’ year of wonders, which began with a New York Times Magazine cover story and has gone on to include a bestselling book and a much-discussed graduation speech, will […]
August 5, 2013
Kindness and Attention (Part One)
The commencement speech that George Saunders delivered at Syracuse University a few months ago has been making the virtual rounds, and it’s easy to understand why. Saunders warms up the […]