Essays
September 14, 2011
9 Ways of Looking at a Single Paragraph 7
by Michael H. Rowe
It was during the summer of 2009 that I first read the opening paragraph to German novelist Peter Handke’s 1970 novel, The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick. It remains the most tantalizingly confusing paragraph I’ve ever read.
September 13, 2011
Writing the Jersey Shore in the Age of Reality TV 4
by Michael Kardos
As I finalized revisions to my book, I wondered how readers’ perceptions of the place I had spent years writing about were possibly being shaped by the antics of people named Snooki and The Situation.
September 12, 2011
My Biggest Fan 8
by John Warner
Sometime after he died, I had what I think we literary types call an epiphany. My father was a fan. I hadn’t known. Or if I’d known, I hadn’t thought of it that way.
September 12, 2011
Nobody Hearts L.A.: A Personal Los Angeles Canon 10
by Colin Marshall
I asked all the readers I could for their recommendations of “alternative,” “adventurous,” “unusual,” “non-canonical,” or just “weird” Los Angeles novels.
September 10, 2011
Recovery in Pieces: A Study of the Literature of 9/11 13
by A-J Aronstein
We can’t blame earnest authors for trying. It just wasn’t long enough ago yet.
September 9, 2011
Strange Flights 2
by Christopher Schaberg
In April 2001, I was offered the most interesting part-time job I’ve ever had. For $7.25 an hour I began working at my local airport.