April 6, 2018
In Defense of “Show Don’t Tell”
Part One of Mark McGurl’s The Program Era (2009), the now-classic history of the influence of writing programs on twentieth-century American literature, uses as its title two of the hallmark […]
July 7, 2016
Hurry up and Wait: On Waiting and Loneliness
Hurry up and wait is my favorite baseball expression, and it’s one that, of course, doesn’t pertain only to our nation’s pastime. (Something to ponder: Is baseball still considered America’s […]
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 […]