Struggling through 'Madame Bovary'
Why do I adore the amazing lush, vivid prose of this book, yet I’m inching along, struggling every evening to make myself pick it up, and...
Diving into Jennifer Egan's: "Manhattan Beach"
Writing a bestseller doesn’t get you into clubs or fancy restaurants, but the one perk can be books. 😃👍🏾👍🏾
My favorite living author,
Lucia Berlin featured on NPR's Selected Shorts
Lucia is still my hero. Amazing writer, amazing friend. You can read about what I learned from her--about writing and about life--in my Vani
Itching to write? Here's THE guidebook
I just pulled out my version of Janet Burroway's, Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft. Decades into my career, eight years after...
Lolita! 3rd time's the charm
"I then had the fantastic pleasure of creeping through that pitch-dark tunnel, where I lingered a little to listen to the singing in my
My book haul—and 'Columbine' autographs
Meanwhile, I wasn't planning to buy any books, but man did I. (I thought it would be a nice night to catch up on signing, get some cardi
Tolstoy gives his narrator omniscience in Anna Karenina, but...
Tolstoy gives his narrator omniscience in Anna Karenina, but he's selectively omniscient. Is that uncommon? He made me question where I...
Uncommon book recommendations for 2017
Wearing Dad's Head, Barry Yourgrau. Changed my perceptions of what was possible, as a writer. And so much fun to read!
