I’m Penn State today (2/9) to discuss blogging and the arts with the great Michael Bérubé — American literature and cultural studies professor, and blogger — as part of the university’s Arts in Public Life series. We start at 12:30. If you’re in town, it’d be great to see you.
Israeli writer Etgar Keret runs into an old friend while taking shelter from bombs. (Via.)
Amitava Kumar recommends rate your students for its “ever-present supply of band-aids and a stiff drink for teachers.”
“The best travel writing usually begins with an absurd proposition.” Collins on How to See Europe on Fifty Cents a Day.
Granta’s Fathers issue includes nine writers’ recollections of their fathers. For Granta.com, the magazine has invited newer writers, including Jim Shepard, Gary Shteyngart, Rabih Alameddine, lê thi diem thúy, and me, to reflect on a photo of their dad. My contribution is up today; here’s the first paragraph: Exactly how long the prostitute, unbeknownst to my father, stayed at our . . .