Critical Mass

Truman Capote: Before publication, and if provided by persons whose judgment you trust, yes, of course criticism helps. But after something is published, all I want to read or hear

After an overnight in Youngstown, Ohio (shoutout to the incredible cast and crew at Station Square restaurant),  I’m thinking about the Monongahela Valley and the coming of a new underclass

I’ll be wrapping up my “on the road” series this week, with Toni Morrison’s Lorrain, Ohio, August Wilson’s Hill District of Pittsburgh, and “Knockemstiff.”  But first: Granta has a Chicago

It was raining most of the way as I drove from Iowa City through Illinois to South Bend, Indiana. (The next day’s Chicago Tribune referred to “stunning” overnight storm totals,

Driving from eastern Wyoming’s arid 9000-foot Rocky Mountain plateau to the humid green expanse of western Nebraska creates a sort of culture shock. Five hundreds miles in Europe would mean

Still on the road, my antidote to 2009 so far, I’m driving I-80 from Sonoma County to New York City, stopping when I feel like it overnight, reading whatever strikes

I’m driving east from the Pacific to the Atlantic this week. I left Wells, Nevada, a sad town halfway to ghosting with closed-down casinos and motels Saturday morning, ate lunch