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November 2008

Improvisations

Sunday, November 30, 2008

”If I were a more self assured person, I would not have volunteered to give up my seat on an overcrowded flight, would not have been upgraded to first class, would not have been seated beside him. This was my reward for being a pushover.”
— Miranda July, “Roy Spivey.”

Chance encounters lead to unexpected consequences in a quirky romance, and a quirkier crime story.


Passionate Pursuits

Sunday, November 23, 2008

”And space itself: a straight line from every point to every other point, from this roof to this cloud, to the sun, and back to the roof. Points making lines, lines making planes, planes making bodies... The fine curve of space was almost visible from here.”
--Daniel Kehlmann, “The Mathematician”

Two stories about passionate pursuits—cerebral and visceral.


Writing at the MacDowell Colony

Sunday, November 16, 2008

”I left Milly’s party and walked along old narrow streets, feeling a peculiar tenderness as I passed by quaint eighteenth-century homes with their soft-lighted windows. Inside, I imagined lit candles, roses in glass vases, gleaming mirrors, and bowls of potpourri smelling of cinnamon and pears."
--Frances Hwang, “The Modern Age”

Two rich tales reflect aspects of the immigrant experience, both experienced and inherited, in stories by MacDowell Colony writers.


Pressing Engagements

Sunday, November 09, 2008

"Things in the world now appear smaller, more toylike. An object that once towered above us—a tall pine, a steep hill, a snowcapped mountain— is itself dwarfed by the Dome, which by the ever-present fact of its vastness miniaturizes what it encloses."
--Steven Millhauser, “The Dome”

A musical prodigy electrifies a local radio station; and in the not too distant future, America is housed under a gigantic dome, in two intriguing fantasies.