On the other hand, hey, I’m 50. This is the third time I’ve gathered a decade’s stories. Let’s be clear about how much such introspection matters to the reader who’s either aboard or not aboard my “project” by now: likely, not bloody much. Somerset Maugham once adopted the title of a next collection of his stories from a weary reviewer’s description of his previous one: “The Mixture as Before.” The secret title of this book is “The Mixture as Before.”
Over at Salon, Matt Bell talks to Jonathan Lethem about his latest short story collection Lucky Alan, characters, and readers’ affection.
