Check out my latest article on Berfrois, "The Crux of Our Sundering," about Edmund Gosse's touching memoir of his father.
Dick Allen Passes Away
Amy and I were saddened to find out that our friend and fellow Connecticut author, Dick Allen, has passed away. I feel privileged to have known him. His poem, "On the New Haven Line," is one of my top ten favorites of all time. Find it in Garnet Poems, or elsewhere.
The Sweet (and Sour) History of Connecticut Pork
Check out our latest article in Edible Nutmeg.
Review of Trout Fishing in America
Check out my latest review of Richard Brautigan's lost classic up at Empty Mirror Books.
Review of John Fowles's A Maggot
My review of John Fowles's novel A Maggot is up at Berfrois. He is one of my favorite authors, but I don't let him get away with the sleight-of-hand he pulls in his last novel.
The Anthology of Babel Is On Its Way
"Why should there only be literary scholarship about authors who actually lived, and texts which exist? Where are the articles on Enoch Campion, Linus Withold, Zelda Calhoun, Redondo Panza, Darshan Singh, or Heidi B. Morton? That none of these are real authors should be no impediment to interpreting their invented writings. In the first collection of its kind, The Anthology of Babel publishes academic articles by scholars on authors, books, and movements that are completely invented. Blurring the lines between scholarship and creative writing, The Anthology of Babel inaugurates a completely new literary genre perfectly attuned to the era we live in, a project evocative of Jorge-Louis Borges, Umberto Eco, and Italo Calvino."
Look for this amazing anthology (and my essay/story in it) forthcoming Summer 2018 from Punctum Books. Linus Withold (mentioned above) is my boy.
Connecticut Book Awards
I was honored to be a finalist for the 2017 Connecticut Book Awards, and to attend the ceremony at the Mark Twain House. It was great to meet the other authors and the hard working judges from Connecticut Humanities.
The Slow History of Hasty Pudding
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.