Life and the Arts
Read the first essay in my new column for The Wayfarer, Life and the Arts.
"Engage in the arts. Begin to be. Become."
Connecticut Book Award Finalist
Shadows of Paris is a finalist for the Connecticut Book Award! I am up against some real competition, though, including best-selling author Wally Lamb. So, fingers crossed for the award ceremony on October 22.
American Consumer
I have a new piece up on Berfrois: "Natural Products of Consumer Society: Serial Killers in Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho." Check it out here.
Wine on My Mind
Just drank a bottle of Priam Vineyard's rose, and recalled this local television show Amy and I did when we were promoting our book A History of Connecticut Wine. It's great to know that the state's wine industry is booming, and that we had some small part in promoting and recording its rise.
The Saga of Hungry Mungry
I have a memoir piece published in an Australian journal, Communion, called "The Saga of Hungry Mungry." Read it here.
The History of Connecticut Chicken
Amy and I have a new article in the summer issue of Edible Nutmeg, focusing on the incredible connections our state has to the history of modern chickens. And a nice recipe for grilled Cornish game hens.
Sharing Stories at Kinlochard
I have a personal essay about one of my experiences in Scotland up at Berfrois, Sharing Stories at Kinlochard. Enjoy!
Shadows of Paris Wins a Silver Medal
Shadows of Paris has just been awarded the silver medal for Romance in the Foreword Reviews INDIE Book Awards!
Kurosawa's Throne of Blood as Zen Stick
Check out my latest essay at Berfrois, an analysis of the existentialist dilemma that has sucked the air out of Macbeth criticism for the last century, and how Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood may offer a little oxygen.
Shadows of Paris has won the Next Generation Indie Book Award
I am sharing the good news - Shadows of Paris has won the Next Generation Indie Book Award for best novella of the year. That is the second award since becoming a finalist in the Foreword Book Reviews Indie Book of the Year, for romance.
Quoted in The Atlantic
Recently I was interviewed by The Atlantic for a feature on the inequality of Fairfield County. You can read the article here.
The Truth is Not Wanted
Check out my article, "The Truth is Not Wanted," on Martin Amis's classic dystopian novel London Fields, which is up at Berfrois today. Of course, his dystopia looks a lot like our world right now.
The Real Tom Thumb
Real Stories on youtube has acquired the BBC4 Tom Thumb documentary that I was part of, and in some ways shaped with my book Becoming Tom Thumb: Charles Stratton, P.T. Barnum, and the Dawn of American Celebrity. It includes me saying the word "erotic" on network television, so that's something. Seriously, though, it is a fine documentary about one of Connecticut's favorite sons...and the world's first international celebrity.
Even More Reviews and Articles
I have another review up at Empty Mirror Books, of Eugen Herrigel's Zen and the Art of Archery. And I have another article up at Berfrois, on Sherlock Holmes, demon hounds, and the need for evidence-based scientific review. That's 14 articles I've written since December (a few of which have not come out yet). I'm working on another dozen, along with a new novel, and a new history book.
More Reviews at Empty Mirror
Check out my review of William Kotzwinkle's Swimmer in the Secret Sea and my review of J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye at Empty Mirror Books.
Intervew and Article on Shadows of Paris
Check out the article and interview by the wonderful Amy Barry at the New London Day.
The Darkest Book of All
Check out my latest review/essay on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness at Berfrois.
Used Books vs. Collectible Books
Check out my article on book barns, and the proper way (from the consumer's perspective) to make a successful used book store. On one of my favorite sites, Empty Mirror Books.
Portrait by Arib Alajmi
Recently, a former student of mine, Arib Alajmi, did this wonderful portrait of me. You can follow her wonderful art on Instagram or twitter.