Need to know which George Saunders book to read next? Black Balloon has you covered. What follows is the order in which I would save his four short story collections from a burning building, though I swear to you I would gladly burn my delicate, immaculately maintained hands on each and every one of them.
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Two events are converging this week: the arrival of George Saunders' new book, Tenth of December, which the Times has already called “The Best Book You’ll Read This Year,” and the initial descent of our New Year's resolutions into secret shame and self-loathing. I thought it’d be apt to collect some Saunders quotes that illustrate our most popular resolutions — and the failure and small victories that shadow them.
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For a long time, I thought poetry was for people who cultivated smug aloofness. Not anymore. For proof that poetry can serve as an offering of connectedness, check out Transylvanian-American poet Andrei Codrescu’s So Recently Rent a World: New and Selected Poems 1968-2012 — or, if you live in New York or St. Paul, simply go outside with your eyes open.
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Going Out is a weekly attempt to investigate overheard utterances, made at the restaurant where I work, that reveal something about desire. This week, a cautionary tale about an overfamiliar customer.
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Going Out is a weekly attempt to investigate public utterances (made at the restaurant where I work) that reveal something about desire. This week: the musings of three men who came wobbling in at 8:00 a.m.
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Like most of you, I read the scathing New York Times review of Guy's American Kitchen and Barwith scarcely containable glee. My restaurant was featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives in 2008; Without fail, at least once a weekend, we get the same question...
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With only a few episodes remaining on this season of Ru Paul’s All Star Drag Race, it’s time for all of the contestants to ramp up their game. In addition to a little extra sparkle (and a tight tuck), I think they could really gain from taking a peek at Alice Munro’s new collection of short stories,Dear Life, which hits bookstores this week.
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A man and a woman sit on one side of a table, the man helping his daughter slice through a pancake. Three of their friends sit on the other side. After an unheard remark from a female friend, the man speaks up.
Man: "There are some women who find me attractive."
Woman: "Well, I don't."
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