Feb 8Never Explain How: Death Bed Is Good, ActuallyTo begin with, Death Bed: The Bed That Eats is exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a horror movie where the villain is a bed, a gigantic bed in a stark black basement that laughs and snores and, as promised, eats. …Movies16 min read
Published in ANMLY·Aug 11, 2019Century-Old Voices: A Review of Deborah Woodard’s No FinisFor whatever reason, one of the few things I retained from high school history class was the story of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911. Nearly 150 people died, and the event helped usher in better building codes and working conditions in America. …Poetry4 min read
Published in ANMLY·Jan 3, 2019The Mystery of Subjective Experience: Emmalea Russo’s GEmmalea Russo’s debut book, G, is both tightly organized and extremely obscure. Russo’s artistic intentions are quite present, but their actual shape is impossible to discern. Reading G is a reflective experience, and each reader’s experience is going to be different, depending on the inside of her own head. The…Writing4 min read
Dec 13, 2018Why I Write for FreeWriting for free is an unfortunate, natural consequence in an industry in a profound state of transition. — About two months ago I began to wonder if all the things I’ve learned in the past year, my first year of freelancing, could be of use to other freelancers, or to writers with unrelated jobs who wish to make the leap to full-time creative work. I wanted to write…Writing8 min read
Oct 10, 2018More Privilege & Feminism on the MantleThis is mostly a note to Medium folks who have begun following me due to my private schools piece. Hi, and thank you! If you liked that article, I’d like to direct you to something I wrote that appeared on October 10 on the Mantle. It’s a review of Tana…Privilege2 min read
Oct 4, 2018What Boys Are Made OfIf you knew my high school, you wouldn’t be surprised by the allegations against Kavanaugh either — Every night this week I’ve had nightmares and insomnia. I’ve been sleeping badly for 25 years, but constant nightmares are new. Last night, I dreamed that I was in a small town and some men catcalled me, so I lured them into a basement with promises of sex. My co-conspirators…Sexual Assault6 min read
Sep 24, 2018Interview Outtakes: Alice HatcherAlice Hatcher’s debut novel, The Wonder that Was Ours, was published by Dzanc on September 4. I interviewed Alice for the Masters Review about her book, asking all sorts of burning questions I had about it. However, we got a little carried away, talking to each other, and some of…Writing4 min read
Jul 24, 2018The New Normal of RetailAn eye gel didn’t work for me — and neither did reviewing it honestly — I’ve had dark circles under my eyes for as long as I can remember — since childhood, in fact. Only twice have I seen my face without them: once at a Sephora makeup demo, when expertly applied YSL concealer erased them (my own face registered shock in the hand mirror)…Beauty6 min read
Published in ANMLY·Jun 21, 2018Cold Comfort: Haake’s Eco-Fables of the PostworldOf the eleven stories in Katharine Haake’s new collection, Assumptions We Might Make About the Postworld, nine are narrated primarily in first-person plural. Five deal with ostracism and judgment by a clan of some kind, whether a family, a neighborhood, or a town. Only one is constrained enough in its…Writing4 min read
May 23, 2018Stress-Purchasing Books When You’re Surrounded by BooksNote: I wrote this for a specific column, Stress Purchase of the Week, and it was kindly turned down. I elected not to revise it (much) before repurposing it here. My stress purchase last week was books. Of course it was books. What’d you think it would be? Clothes? The…Books4 min read