Josh Bearman: The Last Book I Loved, The Incredible Yanqui
The Incredible Yanqui by Hermann Bacher Deutsch is the true story of the exploits of Lee Christmas, a tramp railroader, scoundrel, and soldier of fortune who wound up helping the…
Features & Reviews
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What Will Become of the Word “Ponzi”?
When Bernard Madoff described his investment business as a ‘giant Ponzi scheme’, he gave a somewhat obscure phrase, used to describe a swindle that pays early investors using money from…
The Fine Art of Quitting
To see what is right, and not do it, is want of courage, or of principle. — Confucius
War Is Peace, Freedom Is Slavery
With echoes of 9/11, the protagonist of Jim Knipfel’s novel flees the ubiquitous surveillance of a not-so-futuristic government.
The Rumpus Book Blog Roundup
It’s Wednesday, which means that it’s time for another roundup of things we think you might want to read from book blogs around the Internet. Since last time, the Internet…
Ariane Conrad: A Poem I Love
You’d think Stanley Kunitz, near 70 and hobbling through “Touch Me” would have slid off my 19 year old self. But it was the only poem that stuck, from a…
Scott Carrier
After hitchhiking from Salt Lake City to NPR’s national office, Scott Carrier became a unique radio producer, interviewing schizophrenics and amnesiacs. Here is a This American Life episode dedicated to…
Action Cook Book
Len Deighton’s Action Cook Book—the long-lost 1965 gem by (yes) the airport-novel writer, which I pressed upon the public a few years ago in the Village Voice and on NPR…
When You’ve Only Got Four Books Left
“Bathetic self-deception, and unfulfilled dreams–a lament to passing time, and life not working out quite as one had hoped–have been the defining themes of almost all Ishiguro’s work. They are,…
Margo Rabb: A Poem I Love
It’s rare to find a poem that perfectly captures the anger, absurdity, complexity, and hilarity of grief—something which Sherman Alexie does again and again in his new collection of poems,…
In Search of Free Union
Free Union is much more than a small Virginia town. It is also the choice involved; the choice to go back to the land, the choice to settle with a…