Quick Hits
March 28, 2012
A Previously Unpublished Scene from The Pale King by David Foster Wallace 15
by Editor
Eagle-eyed readers looking at the cover of the soon-to-be-released paperback edition of David Foster Wallace’s The Pale King may have noticed the words “With Four Previously Unpublished Scenes.”
March 16, 2012
Innocent and Abroad: Mark Twain and the Art of Travel Writing 1
by Nathan Deuel
In the end, travel books — or personal essays — are doomed. Try to describe the gorilla and you fail. Words are never enough, and most will ultimately be forgotten. And if that gorilla is a man? Maybe better not to have begun at all.
November 10, 2011
Of Fracking and Franzen: Is Strong Motion Coming True in Oklahoma? 12
by Brian Ted Jones
I cannot imagine the circumstances under which I would discover that my actions had caused an earthquake. But I think if I did, my next move would probably be to stop doing whatever it was I was doing — not to figure out a way to live with the earthquakes. Because if energy companies actually believe that fracking causes earthquakes — and if they continue to frack — where does it end?
November 4, 2011
A Small Gallery of Literary Giants 22
by Bill Morris
Since I’m convinced that people tend to be more interesting once they’re dead, obituaries have always been my favorite part of the newspaper. So whenever a noteworthy writer died, I started drawing the picture that accompanied the obit, eventually adding drawings of noteworthy long-dead writers. Here, then, is a gallery of a few of those literary giants, along with brief explanations of what was going through my head as my pen was fashioning their heads.
August 4, 2011
Older and Wiser 19
by Martha Southgate
Hot debuts, Young Lions, 5 Under 35… the publishing biz has decided that the kids are all right. But where does that leave those of us on the far side of 40?
July 27, 2011
Original Sin 8
by Miles Klee
If you can’t be a unique writer, have the markings of a generic. Glamorize your squalid room in the bohemian part of a bright metropolis. Peddle opinions on the books you read (if you read). Consort with other writers.