Awl Pals

“’This is prime bighorn sheep territory,’ he says, looking beyond the plastic coyote on his dashboard toward the wide-open vistas. ‘There are no signs of people except for us.’ He points out the dust devils spinning off in the distance. This is his life now.”

“I mostly write out of disgust and dissatisfaction. I want a beautiful life but I’m stuck in this Garbage World with you people. Very slowly, I’m figuring out I probably should not waste any more time on writing. It seems increasingly passive and banal, the whole exercise.” — An interview with writer and self-help guru Ken Layne.

If you enjoyed Awl pal Willy Staley’s discussion of mondegreen and rap lyrics and RapGenius — “Not everyone is satisfied with this chaos, however, and one site in particular, RapGenius, has harnessed the power of the masses to guarantee that you never embarrass…

Congratulations to Awl pal Jessica Grose, who has sold her debut novel to William Morrow. (That link is subscription-only, so know this: Sad Desk Salad is “told from the voice of a popular blogger who chronicles the rise and fall of her big scoop, where she must reconcile her values with the growing…

Congratulations to Awl pal “’Awl pal’ Miles Klee,” who has sold his first novel to OR Books.

What do Awl pals Eric Freeman, David Roth and Bethlehem Shoals have in common? Well, they’re Awl pals. But also this.

In this weekend’s New York Times Magazine, Awl pal Jay Caspian Kang profiles a 21-year-old online poker millionaire. Also in this weekend’s New York Time Magazine, Awl pal Heather Havrilesky reflects: “Conversations between middle-aged people and…