Remembering Robert Stone: Ann Beattie
The most I saw of Bob and Janice was in Key West. Not that we didn’t get invited elsewhere and stupidly not find time to go. Not that we didn’t toss around future plans. You might have thought these...
View ArticleIn Defense of the Present Tense
In 2010, the novelist Philip Hensher complained that half of that year’s Man Booker nominees were novels written in the present tense. He insulted the choice, dismissing it as only fashionable. Hensher...
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Five Books Making News This Week
A decade ago, on August 23, 2005, the devastating storm known as Hurricane Katrina commenced a trail of damage that changed the landscape and led to immeasurable human tragedy. Dozens of new books mark...
View Article“The Fledgling”
She was hurrying out of the house, late for an appointment, purse slung over one shoulder, canvas shopping bag in her hand. A squawk came from the oak tree. Somewhere nearby a car backfired, but the...
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Contemplating the Infinite with Annie Dillard
The following appears in this month’s issue of Poets & Writers. Annie Dillard wasn’t sure she was going to like me, she says, not long after I arrive at her cabin near Cripple Creek, Virginia, in...
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“When I read Ann Beattie’s stories, I think of Chekhov’s”
“Ann Beattie yet again reveals herself as one of literature’s most liberating figures. Book after book, her writing affirms a beguiling originality … With shrewd empathy and a Geiger counter ear for...
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The Most Anthologized Short Stories of All Time
Anthologies are strange beasts. They are sometimes ludicrous, often ugly, and almost uniformly tyrannical. They have stories sticking out in odd places; they have holes in their sides. Those that claim...
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Remembering Robert Stone: Ann Beattie
The most I saw of Bob and Janice was in Key West. Not that we didn’t get invited elsewhere and stupidly not find time to go. Not that we didn’t toss around future plans. You might have thought these...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In Defense of the Present Tense
In 2010, the novelist Philip Hensher complained that half of that year’s Man Booker nominees were novels written in the present tense. He insulted the choice, dismissing it as only fashionable. Hensher...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Five Books Making News This Week
A decade ago, on August 23, 2005, the devastating storm known as Hurricane Katrina commenced a trail of damage that changed the landscape and led to immeasurable human tragedy. Dozens of new books mark...
View ArticleClik here to view.
“The Fledgling”
She was hurrying out of the house, late for an appointment, purse slung over one shoulder, canvas shopping bag in her hand. A squawk came from the oak tree. Somewhere nearby a car backfired, but the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Contemplating the Infinite with Annie Dillard
The following appears in this month’s issue of Poets & Writers. Annie Dillard wasn’t sure she was going to like me, she says, not long after I arrive at her cabin near Cripple Creek, Virginia, in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Most Anthologized Short Stories of All Time
Anthologies are strange beasts. They are sometimes ludicrous, often ugly, and almost uniformly tyrannical. They have stories sticking out in odd places; they have holes in their sides. Those that claim...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Masters of Mining Adolescent Experience in Fiction
I don’t know when my belief in child-brand magic came to an end, but I acutely remember those years of rich imagination. One of my favorite movies during my childhood was the 1996 film adaptation of...
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Lit Hub’s Most Anticipated Books of 2019
2018 was a year of ups and downs, and I expect no less from 2019. But whatever else the new year brings, it will also bring a slew of good books, including buzzy debuts (Sophie Mackintosh! Kristen...
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A Wonderful Stroke of Luck
“Ladies and gentlemen, today Dr. Ha, though called upon, was unable to speak, so The Powers That Be have decreed that in the absence of the museum’s art adviser, Ms. Alwyn-Black, who is ill, I am to...
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Ann Beattie: What to Eat When Your Book Tour Comes to an End
Of course you can drink Bombay Sapphire straight from the bottle, with a shotglass of tonic water on the side, or indulge in a bag of Hershey’s Kisses (as much fun for your thumbs as texting), or scoop...
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Carol Edgarian and Ann Beattie Talk Complex Characters and Literary Inspirations
So often, writers read their friends’ manuscripts and galleys, squinting while nervously tapping a foot: Will they pull it off? Will they blow it? I mention drafts and galleys because when the book...
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The week’s best book drama is happening in the Times letters to the editor.
If you, like me, love low-stakes literary gossip but hate Twitter, you should probably be reading the New York Times books section’s letters to the editor. Case in point: Cynthia Ozick’s recent...
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