The Sunday Rumpus Essay: The Year of Light and Dark
It isn’t much of a contest to say that Julie Coyne is the single most inspirational human being I have ever met. And I am here—in Xela—in part because I could use a little inspiration.
...moreIt isn’t much of a contest to say that Julie Coyne is the single most inspirational human being I have ever met. And I am here—in Xela—in part because I could use a little inspiration.
...moreStephanie Danler discusses her debut novel, Sweetbitter, writing sensually, and the power of an authentic voice.
...moreBrendan Jones talks about his debut novel, The Alaskan Laundry, living in Alaska, his time as a Wallace Stegner Fellow, and living and loving what you write.
...moreThe Rumpus Poetry Book Club chats with Thorpe Moeckel about his new book Arcadia Road, the challenge of writing long poems, raising twins, and camo thongs.
...moreReading Solo Faces, I felt like I was peering into a life Matt and I once longed for, one I never entered completely.
...moreBut our bodies and our brains don’t seem designed, ultimately, to cooperate and Salter joins the ranks of the dead where he doesn’t belong.
...moreJames Salter’s new novel, All That Is – his first in thirty-four years – is a masterpiece. At the moment, the span of years between Salter’s books has got people interested in him. In a recent New Yorker profile, Nick Paumgarten follows Salter’s full life story, from his days as a fighter pilot in the […]
...more“The love of books, the possession of them, can be thought of as an extension of one’s self or being, not separate from a love of life but rather as an extra dimension of it, and even of what comes after. ‘Paradise is a library,’ as Borges said.” Over at The New Yorker, James Salter […]
...moreI am here to do two things: scream the praises of James Salter, and throw a few questions about his place in the larger scope of literature into the mix. How did I make it through a college lit class that taught authors from the second half of the twentieth century and never hear of James Salter?
...more“The first time I read A Sport and a Pastime, just two years ago, I knew I’d experienced something unusual, alive, difficult in its directness; not something to look upon “fondly,” but a story that, like all great art, connected me more deeply and truthfully to my whole human self – sans irony or “cool.” […]
...moreI’m not sure what feminist nomenclature Katie Roiphe would assign herself, but I can’t fathom why she would choose to “assign primacy” to The Man.
...more