On this sacred day we’ve come en masse to worship a strange and glitzy god in plush robes, electronic halo. From his broad golden hands smelling of perfume and leather pour markdowns, deals and bogos under silver-tinseled signs saying buy now or forever hold your peace. I’ve seen this god and his dazzling twenty-four-carat smile. … Read more
Wow, wow, WOW. I’ve said many times before that Dostoevsky is one of my all-time favorite novelists. I read The Brothers Karamazov almost two years ago and was stunned by his prophetic voice, as well as the strength and multidimensionality of his characters. It’s true that reading his works does require some patience from the modern … Read more
Today I discovered a cache of poems I wrote in German a few years ago — in March 2010, to be precise. And believe it or not, they didn’t make me cringe. Mostly I was playing with sound and things I had heard or read in classes. I’ll share a few below, for anyone who reads … Read more
Thank Amazon for free Kindle samples…because what a difference an opening chapter makes. The other day, after finishing Mariette in Ecstasy, I hungered for another good story and so consulted my ever-growing to-read list. There were two books in particular that I was curious about, so I downloaded their opening chapters to compare. It was a good … Read more
Thanks to the WD Poetry Awards and the November PAD Chapbook Challenge, I’ve been writing a lot more poetry lately. And I’m rediscovering how much I’ve always loved it. I cannot explain poetry. That’s partially why I gave it up in the first place — I could never figure out how one could tell whether … Read more