People who’ve been reading this blog for a while may have noticed my style changes from colloquial to formal, depending on the topic at hand. If I’m attempting humor, my sentences may include a few contractions and shorten. When tackling a book review, not only do I sometimes sp
The trick to make something old seem new again is to describe it using different words. The world will be mesmerized by the novelty. The ploy worked for Andy Warhol’s soup cans and made him a fortune. To be honest, I don’t believe there’s been a new idea in literature since Thea
I’ve devoted a few blogs to the notion that literature is a gateway to truth and human understanding. (Blog 8/14/15) Regrettably, books of history, biography and science sell better than fiction because too many believe the latter is frivolous and unworthy of a serious mind. Mario V
Recently, a young woman on my Facebook page won a writing contest. She’s been struggling, like most writers, to get her voice heard. Winning the contest was validation of her talent. But why did she succeed now where in the past, she’d faced rejections? The difference this time, I
Sometimes, being a feminist is a pain. Especially when choosing gender pronouns. In a sentence like, A writer will have greatest success if [he? she?] avoids passive voice, which pronoun should I use? In the early days of the women’s movement, some authors switched to “she.
The curtain is down on Woman on the Scarlet Beast and now, after a few months of reflection, I wish to share my thoughts on the experience in the hope it may be of use to some future playwright. Woman on the Scarlet Beast is about the desire for redemption through love. It revolves
J. C. Halliman cocks a doubtful eyebrow at novelist Philip Roth’s announcement he has retired from writing. (“The Monk Retires,” The Baffler, Vol. 27, pgs. 184-189.) If so, the essayist wonders, why do we keep seeing him on television or as a speaker at literary events. From t
I wish literary critics would say what they mean. Being vague or abstruse hardly qualifies them to make comments about other people’s writing. Jason Guriel’s recent praise of Clive James’ poem, “Japanese Maple,” is an example of critical opacity. (“A Final Flood of Col
A Facebook friend requested that l like her Facebook fan page, the site where she promotes her books. She said she’d nearly reached 7,000 and hoped a few of us would put her over the top. My eyes popped when I saw the number. I have a fan page on Facebook. My likes stand at
I came across an essay about writers and silence the other day, written by Tillie Olsen in 1965 and reprinted in Harper’s Magazine in May of this year. (“Ways of Being Silent,” by Tillie Olsen, Harper’s Magazine, May 2015, pg. 25) The theme is one I’ve considered of late (