Literature and Essays

Reading The Brothers Karamazov: Even a Toddler Knows a Funny Name When He Hears One
My son has a long way to go until he’s reading The Brothers Karamazov, but hopefully not so long that he forgets about Stinking Lizaveta before he gets there. I hope I’ll be near at hand, or only a phone call away, when he discovers that the funny name we used to whisper to each other is actually a very sad character in a great novel, and that the line between life and art is arbitrary, if it exists at all.
(The Millions, 2012)
Where Parents Get Their Power: Evidence from The Brothers Karamazov
(The Millions, 2012)
Goodnight Stars, Goodnight Air: Reconnecting with Children’s Books as a Parent
As my son finished his milk and started to fall asleep, I found myself awash in the same anguish I’d felt at this point in the story as a child. I couldn’t have explained why at the time, but as a child I knew there was something deeply sad about the peddler throwing his own cap to the ground. Now as an adult, I can put words to that sadness; I can see that by throwing his own cap to the ground the peddler is effectively saying that without his caps, nothing in the world matters anymore.
(The Millions, 2011)
He Was Water: Kenyon Grads Remember David Foster Wallace’s Commencement Speech
I recently began to wonder: What did the Kenyon grads think when they heard Wallace deliver it on that hot Ohio morning? I was curious whether Wallace’s speech seemed important in real time or whether it was hard to perceive amid the hurrah of a graduation weekend.
(The Millions, 2011)
Shaving Cream and Heart Attacks and Learning When to Fear
(The Millions, 2010)
When I’m in the Mood for Fiction
(The Millions, 2010)
Haruki Murakami and the Art of the Day
(The Millions, 2010)
Reflections on Fear, Freedom, and Growing Up
(The Millions, 2010)
(The Millions, 2010)
In Our Parents’ Bookshelves
(The Millions, 2010)


Leave a Reply


You are commenting using your account. Log Out /  Change )

Google photo


Twitter picture


Facebook photo


Connecting to %s