Articles by Kevin Hartnett
July 12, 2011
The Story in the Storm: An Accomplished Author on How to Write Journalistic Nonfiction 3
If the narrative isn’t unfolding the way you want it, you can’t just change the details to make it better, the way you would when writing fiction. You have to represent the truth.
May 19, 2011
Goodnight Stars, Goodnight Air: Reconnecting with Children’s Books as a Parent 12
The market for children’s books is probably more resistant to cultural churn than just about any other slice of the consumer economy; it’s a closed circuit that reproduces itself one generation after another.
May 9, 2011
He Was Water: Kenyon Grads Remember David Foster Wallace’s Commencement Speech 20
Did Wallace’s speech resonate on the hot Ohio morning when he delivered it to the assembled student, or did it get lost amid the hurrah of a graduation weekend?
January 10, 2011
My Resolution for 2011: Stop Blaming the Internet 7
The Internet was the big bogeyman, the great scapegoat of 2010.
October 21, 2010
Shaving Cream and Heart Attacks and Learning When To Fear 3
These are the things my son James has been afraid of in the 16-months that he’s been alive: The grinding blender, the roaring vacuum, disembodied voices on the speaker phone, the time I pantomimed a broken leg, being put to bed alone in his crib.
October 8, 2010
A Stew of Laziness: Ben Affleck’s The Town and the Elements of Bad Drama 13
I find with bad movies that usually there comes a point at which I realize that no matter what follows, there’s little chance that the film is going to be good.