Features & Reviews
-
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 has been abuzz with the idiosyncrasies and failings of canonical…
-
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 night of literary luminaries. 15 years later, returning—not the first…
-
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 his stories. He has also worked extensively with Hearing Voices.…
-
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 —has been reissued! Well, reissued in Britain, but still. Pay…
-
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, on the face of it, puzzling preoccupations for one of…
-
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, FACE, which is just out from Hanging Loose Press, and…
-
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 partner, father children, and find both comfort and discomfort in…
-
STORIES WE RECOMMEND: “Andy Catlett: Early Education”
I’ve been living in the Bay Area for nine months now, but after years in New York City I still feel like an exile here. Strangers’ smiles unnerve me; hikes, sadly, bore; driving terrifies. To ease the sense of displacement,…
-
The Beautiful Nightmares of Roberto Bolaño’s 2666
Prior to launching The Rumpus, during our test phase, we ran this incredible, thorough, and thoughtful review of Roberto Bolano’s 2666 by Michael Berger. Today seemed like a good day to bring it back. – SE