In our morning reading: interviews with Emily Wells and Sam Pink, Eddie Ahn’s book recommendations, and more.
A Dog’s Life, A Dog’s Book: On George Pelecanos’s “Buster: A Dog”
George Pelecanos is a polymath who understands the Washington D.C. – area more than most authors. He was born in Washington D.C., he currently lives in Silver Springs, and he has fictionalized life in the beltway through scores of crime novels and story collections. Pelecanos’s creations are stark, also witnessed through his work as a TV writer and producer. His credits in this space include The Wire, about illegal drug trade and institutional corruption, The Deuce, about New York’s sex trade in the 1970s, and We Own This City, about police corruption.
Afternoon Bites: Revisiting Gastr del Sol, Non-Tragic “King Lear”s, Joe Koch’s Latest, and More
In our afternoon reading: the history of Gastr del Sol, previewing Joe Koch’s next book, and more.
VCO: Chapter 21
Chapter 21
“What are we offering?” Everhet asks.
Cryptic as usual, I ask for clarification. And he responds with the same question.
“What are we offering?”
So I go with the quick pitch.
Morning Bites: Jennifer Croft on Writing, University Press Recommendations, R. O. Kwon’s Latest, and More
In our morning reading: an interview with Jennifer Croft, new writing by Bud Smith and Dolan Morgan, and more.
Afternoon Bites: Nikesh Shukla on “Headshot,” Interviewing Clare Dederer, Joyelle McSweeney on Writing, and More
In our afternoon reading: Nikesh Shukla on Rita Bullwinkel’s writing, revisiting the music of The Streets, and more.
Items From My Parents
Items From My Parents
by Lydia G. Fash
Inventory-Items-Rev2.xlsx
7 Deadly Sins Wall sculptures Design Toscano, antique snowshoes, antique washing white ceramic basin & pitcher, wall hanging dream catcher made by Jill, carved cuckoo clock from Switzerland–not working, hardwood benches–2, pottery (made by Lydia?), antique leather football helmet. The spreadsheet of 702 things to give away is getting longer and longer as my parents work through the parts of their house where they have squirreled away items for thirty-three years. Each room becomes a heading for a jumble of the past. Each object awaits a new destination—the retirement apartment, a family member, a thrift store, or the planned auction. Each cell represents something to be claimed—and all of the emotions that go with it.
Adaptations With Added Dread: David Small’s “The Werewolf at Dusk and Other Stories”
Somehow it’s been 15 years since the publication of David Small’s graphic memoir Stitches. To call it a debut would be inaccurate; at that point, Small had already amassed a storied career as an illustrator of books for younger readers, including multiple collaborations with his wife, the writer Sarah Stewart. Stitches, the harrowing story of Small’s experience with cancer treatment and unexpected surgery during his teenage years, was a haunting work, one that immersed the reader in its creator’s body and mind during a turbulent period.