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Mar 20 2004
An Embarrassment of Riches
If I weren’t sitting on the couch all weekend watching those basketball games on TV, clutching my brackets in oscillating glory and despair, then I’d be packing my suitcase—because come… read more

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Mar 19 2004
Pen/Faulkner Nominees Announced
Earlier this week, the nominees for the 2004 Pen/Faulkner Award for Fiction (described as America’s largest peer-juried fiction prize) were announced. The nominated authors and their books are Frederick Barthelme… read more

Dispatches
Mar 18 2004
Why I Bathe
[By Michael P. Kardos] Several years ago, I took a week-long writing workshop, during which the teacher, a visiting novelist, instructed all of us to compose a piece of “bad… read more

Dispatches
Mar 18 2004
What I Remember of the Black-capped Chickadee
[By Amy Wilkinson] I’m terrible at remembering names. All names. Like the names of people I’ve met (one or even five times) or the names of authors, stories, articles I’ve… read more

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Mar 17 2004
Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick’s Day is a perfect time to consider, along with its legacy of greasy breakfasts and rich beer, the literary tradition of that tiny, wonderful island, Ireland. Of course… read more

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Mar 16 2004
Blurbs
Dust jacket blurbs are so notoriously general, unhelpful, and badly written that when one actually makes an aesthetic statement, I stop in a sort of amazement. Having worked in a… read more

Dispatches
Mar 15 2004
History Always Repeats Itself
Ok, so perhaps it’s a bit unfair to compare Sexton with Survivor, Lowell with The Littlest Groom (yes, there is such a show!). But like it or not, there are… read more

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Mar 14 2004
Judging literature
After reading Alice Walker’s The Color Purple recently, I thought I’d pose the question, what criteria qualify a work as literature of recognized great value? Should it be considered a… read more

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Mar 14 2004
Beyond the Death Story
It’s always refreshing to read a story that isn’t a death story, or an affair story, or any other story about a well-explored subject. This past week I read a… read more

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Mar 12 2004
City of God
Recently I saw “City of God,” a movie based on an autobiographical novel about life on the streets of Rio de Janeiro. After reading the pitch (younger, smarter brother of… read more