* LitHub // “From Northland to Underland, What We Risk Losing”
April 22, 2019
* Los Angeles Review of Books blog // Now Everything in the World Was Going to Be Rethought: A Conversation with Ann Beattie
April 3, 2019
My interview with Ann Beattie ran at the Los Angeles Review of Books blog on April 2, 2019. We talked about her new novel, food, and terrible writing advice. She also gave me the OK to include this terrific photo.
* New York Times Book Review // Same Same by Peter Mendelsund
February 5, 2019
My review of Same Same ran in the NY Times on 2/5/19.
“In using nonsensical jargon to expose the hollow core of the global Big Ideas industry, Mendelsund has produced — or perhaps reproduced — something entirely satisfying. “Same Same” is a substantial book about emptiness. It reminds us that there’s no here here unless we create it ourselves.”
* The Strong National Museum of Play blog // “Diving into D&D”
January 18, 2019
During the summer of 2018, I had the honor of accepting a Mary Valentine and Andrew Cosman research fellowship in the archives of the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY. For the novel I’m writing, I’ve been looking at how Dungeons & Dragons and other interactive games and RPGs might participate in ancient traditions of oral storytelling.
Here’s the excerpt:
“Back before we had blogs or even pencils and paper, humans told each other stories in caves and around the cooking fires. Epic poets would recite their tales from memory and for hours at a time, and these tales would be retold and embellished in much the same way the fish I caught a few summers ago has grown progressively larger every year since. That’s how stories work.”
The museum recently shared my research summary on their blog. You can read the whole post here.
* Washington Post // The Frolic of the Beasts by Yukio Mishima
November 26, 2018
My review ran on 11/26/18. You might find it here.