Lincoln In The Bardo
The dead lay as they had fallen, in every conceivable shape, some grasping their guns as though they were in the act of firing, while others, with a cartridge in their icy grasp, were in the act of loading. Some of the countenances wore a peaceful, glad smile, while...
I Thought My Father Was God
An Average Sadness It is with small shame that I move to turn on the radio today. Radio is the friend I usually neglect; the friend I only think to call upon when life has turned sad and desperate. I always return to it flushed with guilt -- but it is always waiting...
The House of the Spirits
But Blanca was used to living by herself When all was said and done, she had found peace in her household chores, her ceramics studio, and her creches of made-up animals in which the only figures that corresponded to the laws of reality were the Holy Family lost in a...
Bright Lights, Big City
The train shudders and pitches toward Fourteenth Street, stopping twice for breathers in the tunnel. You are reading about Liz Taylor's new boyfriend when a sooty hand taps your shoulder. You do not have to look up to know you are facing a casualty, one of the city's...
Best Albums List of 2017
Well, it's about that time (or quite a bit overdue) for a round-up of some of the best albums of 2017. Despite the predictions that all the heinous events of 2016 (deaths of many iconic people, and the death of hope as Trump was elected) might cause an upswelling of...