Homesick For Another World

Homesick For Another World

Malibu I’d gone out on dates before. Nothing really spectacular ever happened. One girl had been a nun when she was younger. I liked her, but she was always talking about herself. It was like she was waiting for something in my face to light up, and nothing ever did....
Lincoln In The Bardo

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...
The House of the Spirits

The House of the Spirits

My wife didn’t miss the refinements she had been accustomed to, and the day the shipment of furniture and household goods I had ordered to surprise her arrived at the door, all she said was how “lovely” it was. I myself had to figure out where...
The Castle of Crossed Destinies

The Castle of Crossed Destinies

There was also a time when, wandering through museums, I would stop to face and question the Saint Georges and their dragons. The paintings of Saint George have this virtue: you can tell the painter was pleased to have to paint a Saint George. Because Saint George can...
Such A Pretty Little Picture

Such A Pretty Little Picture

Adelaide Wheelock’s friends – and she had many of them – said of her that there was no nonsense about her. They and she regarded it as a compliment. Sister, the Wheelocks’ five-year-old daughter, played quietly in the gravel path that divided...