Recent Work
Selected Writing and Miscellany:
Are You Going to the Reunion? An essay on going to your high school reunion in middle-age for Memoirland (Oldster Magazine)
Reconsidering Mary McCarthy's Iconic Friendship Novel, The Group
An essay for LitHub about the mother of all "Frenemy" novels.
Large Hearted Boy Playlist for my novel, Talking to the Wolf
The Midst: An Excerpt from my novel, Talking to the Wolf
You Got It an essay about living in the East Village in the 1980s for "MrBeller's Neighborhood"
Pilgrimage an essay about my mother, Jean Valentine, Basho, Japan, and grief in The New England Review and re-published in LitHub
Everything Turns Away Quite Leisurely, an essay about teaching in Palestine for Two Coats of Paint
Outside the Frame, an interview with artist Massinissa Selmani for Two Coats of Paint
Books and Maps and Getting Lost, an art review and essay for Two Coats of Paint
We are Committing Suicide as a Species, a conversation with Ariel Dorfman for the L.A. Review of Books
A House Made of Books, the books my parents left behind, for Bookpost
The Leopard, by Giuseppe di Lampedusa, a reflection on the classic novel on Bookpost USA
The Vixen, by Francine Prose, my review of the novel for Bookpost
And Finally I'll Say Goodbye remembering my mother, Jean Valentine, for the Yale Review
The City We Became A review of the novel by N.K. Jemisin for Bookpost
“Looking for Katalin Street" on Magda Szabo’s novel for Guernica Magazine
“Regarding the Pain of Trump” On Susan Sontag and Donald Trump The Los Angeles Review of Books
“Mapping the Belly of the Whale” an essay on teaching creative writing in prison for The Common Magazine
New York Times Obituaries:
Video Links:
Talking to The Wolf Book Launch at Books Are Magic Watch my wonderful launch event in conversation with my brilliant friend, the novelist, Rene Steinke.