Unfortunate vestige of being raised Charismatic
Every time I pass this Carnegie Hall ad campaign, I think these happy people are praising God at an Oral Roberts revival.
Earbrass, LTD: Writers in search of reassignment?*
“First, try to be something, anything, else.” That’s the famous first line of Lorrie Moore’s “How to Become a Writer,” and it’s funny because it’s true. Many writers do consider another path initially.
Roberto Bolaño, for instance, wanted to be a spy, Kate Christensen a rock star, Joan Didion an actress. Chris Adrian went [...]
Making your brain (and fingers) keep going
A friend who just finished writing a(n excellent) book in a short period of time says you have to ignore your brain when it tells you it’s done for the day. You may think you can’t keep going, but if you push on, what comes out will be even better. The next day, do [...]
Suggested writers’ agenda for January
I’ve been thinking about Saul Bellow’s notion that “art has something to do with the achievement of stillness in the midst of chaos.”
Coincidentally, Colson Whitehead has declared this ShThFuUpAnWoOnYrNo (Shut the fuck up and work on your novel) Month. And why not? It’s winter, you’re going to be miserable anyway. What better things [...]
Goodbye, aughts. Hello… space age?
Happy New Year from frigid (but no longer snowy) Brooklyn.
Wishing you all good things in 2010.
My favorite books, and other highlights, of 2009
I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, given how steeped my childhood was in Bible stories, that R. Crumb’s graphic rendition of Genesis infiltrated my thoughts the way that it did, but I was. Because his book was the one that affected me the most this year, it’s my pick for Salon. What I say [...]
National Review hearts our unappealing essays!
An unexpected development: National Review Online approves of Love is a Four-Letter Word, the anthology in which my Narrative essay appeared. Interestingly, the reviewer seems to view the book as a sort of unwitting corrective to Sex and the City — a show I endured about a half-episode of during its entire run.
Michael Taeckens, [...]
Fears, impulses & dangers I’ve been sensitized to
I’ve written plenty of autobiographical essays, and I’m sure I’ll continue to write them, but at the LA Times I try to explain why I’m working on a novel rather than a memoir, even though I’m mining my own life for the book. An excerpt:
When I was 12, I [...]
Empanelled! Also, questions and more questions.
I guess my cardigan and the cat hair I couldn’t lint-roll off of it must’ve screamed “truly, I have renounced every aspect of being an attorney,” but, in light of my background, I was surprised to be selected for a civil jury today.
Evidently the trial is an expedited, one-day affair. I’ll be at [...]
Old way, this way, future way
All week someone’s been searching my archives for the old design of this site, so here it is. I liked it better the original way, honestly, even though the paint spatters gave everyone else a headache.
For a couple years you could still read the site in its original [...]
Bob Fosse, The Little Prince, and eternal damnation
Bob Fosse played the snake in a 1974 adaptation of The Little Prince. Seeing his astonishing dance moves juxtaposed here with a “Billie Jean” soundtrack reminds me how freaked out and completely spellbound I was when I first encountered the movie, in reruns at a local theater, at four or five.
In hindsight, The Little [...]
2009 Narrative Prize
I am excited and kind of stunned to say that Narrative Magazine has awarded me its annual fiction prize for an emerging writer, for “When the Flock Changed.”
The story is actually an excerpt from a novel I’ve been writing — and writing about writing — for an embarrassingly long time. Here’s how it opens:
My [...]
The mystery of the Newtons, including my father
I’m not sure what it means when I fixate on genealogical research, as I have been recently, but I have learned to recognize flare-ups of ancestry.com obsession as a warning sign.
Normal people are not awake after midnight, scouring the 1800 U.S. Census for clues about one Jesse Newton, [...]
Hectic summertime
The heat of August is upon us, but none of the languor for me. I’m buried in deadlines, my stepdaughter, A., is visiting, and she, Max, and I head to Tampa tomorrow for a quick visit with my father-in-law, who’ll soon be undergoing another cycle of chemo.
A., brilliant [...]
Taking a short vacation
I’m away at my sister’s, going on long walks through the woods and fixating on things other than books. Back soon.
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