On Love
The telephone becomes an instrument of torture int he demonic hands of a beloved who doesn't ring. When Chloe called a few days later, I had rehearsed my speech too often to deliver it correctly. I was caught unprepared, handing socks on a rail. I ran to the bedroom...
The Overstory
A five year-old in 1968 paints a picture. What's in it? First, a mother, giver of paper and paints, saying Make me something beautiful. Then a house with a door floating in the air, and a chimney with curls of spiraling smoke. Then four Appich children in descending...
How To Write About Africa
Animals, on the other hand, must be treated as well rounded, complex characters. They speak (or grunt while tossing their manes proudly) and have names, ambitions and desires. They also have family values: see how lions teach their children? Elephants are caring, and...
This is Jason Molina
I've previously attempted to highlight the genius of Jason Molina and his various incarnations and bands like Songs Ohia, Magnolia Electric Co. etc. Suffice to say I regard him as one of the greatest songwriters of his generation, for whom blues music was a philosophy...
On Love
One mid-morning in early December, with no thought of love or stories, I was sitting in the economy section of a British Airways jet making its way from Paris to London. We had recently crossed the Normandy coast, where a blanket of winter cloud had given way to an...