Exile on Benjamin Kunkel Street

For some reason, I always thought a “Self-imposed exile” was supposed to seem like a bad thing. Benjamin Kunkel proved me wrong. Over at N+1, Mr. Kunkel’s dispatches from Argentina: “Argentina is by no means the saddest country in the world, but it has often been felt to be the most tragic. A vast country, eighth largest in the world, endowed with a long coastline, the endless fertile plains of the pampas, a deep trove of mineral wealth, and torrents […]

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Living in a Post-20 Under 40 World

The New Yorker put out it’s first issue since it’s 20 Under 40 Summer Fiction edition came out.  That meant we all had two weeks to read the entire issue, reflect upon the choices, and blog a lot about it. Is the entire literary landscape forever altered?  Probably not, but at least it gave us all some fodder until something else comes along. Ward Six gave us ten writers over 80 that we should go back and read. Steve Almond […]

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Benjamin Kunkel Will Make Sweet Love to You, Philip Roth Will Tap Your Ass

By Jason Diamond But my favorite part of Kate Roiphe’s essay, “The Naked and the Conflicted“, in the New York Times Sunday Book review has to be: “writers like Jonathan Safran Foer who avoid the corruptions of adult sexuality by choosing children and virgins as their protagonists.” What I gained from this essay is more evidence that Philip Roth is an old guy who can’t deal with his inability to hump women that he probably treats like shit, Norman Mailer […]

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