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. I’m fascinated, in general, by the relationship between truth and invention in fiction, and have posted on . . .
Haven’t read National Book Award winner Colum McCann’s fiction yet, but I like the advice he gave Marlon James: Risk sentimentality.
Working overtime at the office for the next little while, so check Twitter if it’s quiet here.
Poet Susan Ramsey and I have been corresponding for years, since she worked as a bookseller and I actually had time to answer my email, and she’s been urging me to read her friend Bonnie Jo Campbell almost that long. When I finally do crack the spine on American Salvage, I’m sure I won’t be disappointed. Ramsey is basically never . . .
Alert Tartt & Tinti: Robert Louis Stevenson’s archives, partly held in private collections, go digital.