Coming around again
What gets in the way of writing
Last week, I had every intention of writing a newsletter. First, after dropping my children off at school for their first day of the academic year, I needed to write a book review of Anna Funder’s Wifedom: Mrs. Orwell’s Invisible Life. With no shortage of things to say about biography and this book in particular, writing was no problem. What kept me from writing to you about scam artists, solitary women, Emma Cline’s The Guest, and other books about late capitalism and patriarchy was a murder.
I live in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and the University of North Carolina campus is a short drive from my house. Last Monday afternoon, the campus was placed under lockdown. The news that hummed through my community was inconsistent and, at one point, the wrong person was detained for the shooting of a professor in his own lab. It was impossible to know what was happening. Everyone was fixed in horror, grasping at vague details.
For the duration of the afternoon, university students, faculty, and staff remained under lockdown and public school students were also detained in “secure” mode. The public school kids stayed inside their classrooms and dismissal was suspended until an “all clear” was issued. At this point, the suspect had been apprehended, but the weapon was not found. Parents were chaotic at school pick up; the kids, teachers, and staff seemed calm. Everyone had snacks. They had played with Legos. My youngest child marked her first day of elementary school with a crown and the very real threat of gun violence. Please write to your representatives, vote, speak up, and get involved to stop gun violence. We can’t just shrug and say that there’s nothing we can do about this pervasive issue.
Trying to get back to work
After I filed my piece, which ran this past Sunday in the Boston Globe, I spent the rest of the week reading. I read Elisa Gonzalez’s poetry collection Grand Tour, Hilary Leichter’s novel Terrace Story, Valerie Martin’s 1978 debut novel Set in Motion, Abby Hanlon’s children’s chapter book Dory Fantasmagory: Can’t Live Without You (which I kept mistakenly calling Never Let Me Go, which is darkly funny to me) Sloane Crosley’s memoir Grief is for People, and I read over half of Kate Briggs’ novel The Long Form. I also read a bit of Mary Ruefle’s The Book which isn’t poetry and isn’t essay, but is a bit of both?
This was an eclectic stack of books for my frazzled brain. I needed to laugh with my kids and husband, but I also needed to submerge myself in novels. Gonzalez’s poetry was transporting. Crosley’s memoir froze me in place until I was done. Is there ever a good time to read a memoir that examines the suicide of my former colleague and friend? No, there really isn’t, but I also knew that I couldn’t let the galley sit around my house unread. Doing so would be like ignoring a persistent phone call.
This week, I’m still reading and will hopefully get back to my original newsletter idea. Interestingly, reading Valerie Martin’s backlist helps me put Cline’s character Alex in context and perspective. I’ll talk about that down the line. I adored Terrace Story which stretched my thoughts about time, space, and attachment. In line with my thinking about isolated characters, Terrace Story also includes a lonely girl who grows up to become a lonely woman. Stephanie is a character who will haunt me for a long time.
I’m woolgathering and hope to write again soon once I file my next review. Looking ahead, for the Brooklyn Book Festival and the National Book Critics Circle I’ll be moderating Beyond the Acclaimed Debut, an in-person Bookends panel during the Brooklyn Book Festival with past John Leonard prize finalists Jamel Brinkley, Megha Majumdar, and Zain Khalid at Community Bookstore in Park Slope. That event is on Friday September 29th at 6 pm. Please RSVP and attend! I’ll also be moderating a virtual panel for the Brooklyn Book Festival with more information on that to come.
Work round up
Since I last wrote in March, I’ve published a number of pieces.
For the Boston Globe, I wrote a short essay about my longtime love for Ellen Raskin’s 1978 children’s novel The Westing Game and how it reminds me that I do enjoy mysteries.
For the Boston Globe, I wrote a review of Christine Grillo’s debut novel Hestia Strikes a Match.
For Literary Hub, I interviewed Camille T. Dungy about her memoir Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden.
I contributed to a roundup of summer fiction for the Boston Globe.
For the Boston Globe, I reviewed Tessa Hadley’s new story collection After the Funeral. Bookmarks selected this review as one of five reviews to “you need to read” in mid-July. This review was also excerpted in The Week.
For the New York Times Book Review, I reviewed Amy Rowland’s sophomore novel Inside the Wolf, which deals with generational trauma rooted in gun violence. It ran in the September 3rd print issue of the New York Times.
For Poets & Writers magazine, I wrote a profile of Jenn Shapland (My Autobiography of Carson McCullers) who recently published the essay collection Thin Skin.
I contributed fiction selections to a roundup of fall books for the Boston Globe.
For the Boston Globe, I wrote a review of Anna Funder’s Wifedom: Mrs. Orwell’s Invisible Life.