February 2012
1 post
In New York magazine
I detail the challenges of building a better shame-delivery system.
January 2012
3 posts
In Bookforum
A nice review of my book, “Among Righteous Men.”
In New York
A talk with the Lorax of the Wall Street bull.
December 2011
4 posts
In the New York Times
A nice write-up of my book, “Among Righteous Men.”
In The Daily
A strange footnote in the history of Crown Heights.
In New York
I play the slots at the new Resorts World Casino, in Queens.
September 2011
1 post
In New York
For the 9/11 encyclopedia, a short on the last survivor pulled from the rubble of the Twin Towers.
August 2011
1 post
In the Daily Beast
A trip around New York with a group of armored superheroes.
April 2011
1 post
In New York
The geese of Prospect Park.
March 2011
2 posts
December 2010
1 post
In Harper's Magazine
An article about Crown Heights – and a preview of my first book, which will be published later this year. You need a subscription to read the full article, but The Nation Institute has a longer preview.
November 2010
3 posts
In Bookforum
A review of the new Cynthia Ozick novel.
In Foreign Policy
An article about video games.
In the Washington Post
A review of Bomber Country, by Daniel Swift.
September 2010
1 post
In the Washington Post
A review of ‘The Last of the Tribe.’
May 2010
1 post
In Bookforum
A review of Kira Henehan’s “Orion You Came and You Took All My Marbles.”
April 2010
2 posts
In the VQR
An essay on “Mathilda Savitch,” by Victor Lodato.
In the Boston Globe
An article on The Tallest Man on Earth.
March 2010
1 post
In Bookforum
A review of “The Dream of Perpetual Motion,” by Dexter Palmer.
February 2010
1 post
In Bookforum
A review of David McConnell’s “The Silver Hearted.”
January 2010
3 posts
In the Los Angeles Times
An essay on the Norwegian novelist Knut Hamsun.
In the Monitor magazine
A cover story on the future of reading.
In the Daily Beast
A piece on a new Dracula sequel.
December 2009
3 posts
In Paste
Paste asked me to help pick some of the best books of the decade. I wrote the blurb for Netherland:
Anyone can write a book set in New York; many do. Few can write about a book about the immigrant experience in New York, which is of course the real story of the city—the tired, hungry, and poor; the con and the mark; the half-lit memories of home; the joy of having arrived. Netherland has been...
Kill Screen is ready for launch. →
In Boston magazine
A feature fit for a Dan Brown novel.
October 2009
2 posts
In the Washington Post
A review of “The Anti-Communist Manifestos,” by John V. Fleming.
In the VQR
A review of Jonathan Lethem’s “Chronic City.” Tough to find on the VQR site, so here’s an excerpt:
Lethem’s real star is Manhattan itself, a place where one is “persistently amazed at the worlds squirreled inside one another, the chaotic intricacy with which realms interleave, like those lines of television cable and fresh water and steam heat and outgoing sewage and...
September 2009
10 posts
In the Washington Post
Reviews of:
“The Sisters of Sinai,” by Janet Soskice
“To Wake the Dead,” by Marina Belozerskaya
“Gilded Youth,” by Kate Cambor
“Tales of Wonder,” by Huston Smith
Cover story from the Monitor magazine
Runs a bit long, with no breaks – read at your own risk.
In Bookforum
Reviews of the following titles:
“The Informers,” by Juan Gabriel Vásquez
“The Magicians,” by Lev Grossman
“Floodmarkers,” by Nic Brown
In the Los Angeles Times
A long essay on Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
In the Boston Globe
A review of “Infinity Blues,” by Ryan Adams. Back in the day, when I was writing a lot more about music, I covered an Adams show out in Somerville.
In the Virginia Quarterly Review
I have a short piece on “Brooklyn,” by Colm Tóibín. About halfway down this page. In the fall issue, which should hit stands soon, I review Jonathan Lethem’s “Chronic City”; in the winter issue, I’ll be writing about “Mathilda Savitch.”
In PRINT magazine
A piece on Adrian Tomine and Yoshihiro Tatsumi. But it’s not online. Sorry.
In the Barnes and Noble Review
The B+N Review got a new site, and it looks like some of the old content is lost. My essay on Ninni Holmqvist’s “The Unit” is now hosted on the central B+N site.
In the Monitor
An older piece on John Cheever.
In Tablet
An old essay on Hans Fallada that I wrote for Nextbook – which subsequently became Tablet.
June 2009
2 posts
In Bookforum
My review of Sarah Rainone’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart.”
Tatsumi review in Paste
Way behind the ball, of course, but here’s a poorly formatted version of my lead book review in the latest issue of Paste.
May 2009
1 post
In the Post, the Globe, etc.
In Sunday’s Washington Post, I review David Ottaway’s new book.
In Saturday’s Boston Globe, I talk with one of the brains behind Akron/Family.
April 2009
6 posts
Some stories, out there somewhere, floating in the...
In the Globe, I review the new Metric disc.
In Paste magazine, I have the lead book review. But hell if I know how to find it online…
I have a review in the Outlook section of Sunday’s Washington Post. So, if you’re Washington, get me a copy.
WatchI wrote for the Los Angeles Times and Nextbook magazine about the German writer Hans Fallada; the links to that are below. Melville House publisher Dennis Johnson was on Charlie Rose’s show to discuss the recently-released Fallada books.
New Tomine tome
Just finished up an interview with Adrian Tomine for New York magazine – Q and A forthcoming – and we chatted a bit about his new project: a collection of some of his old “Optic Nerve” stuff. Pretty rad. In the meantime, check out the cover of John Wray’s “Lowboy,” also courtesy of Monsieur Tomine. (I reviewed Lowboy for the San Francisco Chron here.)
Recent other stuff
In other news, here’s some other stuff from the top drawer:
In the San Francisco Chronicle, I reviewed John Wray’s “Lowboy”
For the Monitor and then ABC, I wrote about starving artists during a time of recession
In the Los Angeles Times, I wrote a big piece on Hans Fallada, the German novelist
In the new Virginia Quarterly Review, I wrote about John Milton
In the...
Recent music stuff
Haven’t updated this in a hot minute (is that the right Southern phrase?) but anyway, here are a few recent CD reviews:
A chat with the gents in Titus Andronicus.
Peter, Bjorn and John, “Living Thing,” in the Boston Globe
Bonnie “Prince” Billy, “Beware,” in the Globe
N.A.S.A., “Spirit of Apollo,” in the Globe
Beirut, “March of the...