Monthly Archives: September 2021

I ask Sam if he’s free Thursday and he says anytime after 4pm, when he gets off work. I price rental cars, but they’re through the roof these days. Zipcar turns out to be cheaper. Never took one for longer than three hours, nor left the city, much less the state in one before, butContinue reading “Rib-Eyes by the River’s Edge”

In Arseny Tarkovsky’s poem “Зеркало (Mirror)”, he appoints himself a guardian of timelessness and immortality. He counsels his reader not to fear death. He cleaves his fate to the saddle, the journey. There are another half-dozen word-images in there that I’m still turning about in my head. Good art does that to a person. TheContinue reading “Mirror”

When I was working on the Mallory Smart article for the Reader, I listened to a lot of book-scene podcasts and scanned a bunch of Twitter timelines for research. One show was hosted by a guy named Sean Thor Conroe. He seemed connected to many big fish in the indie-lit pond. When the publisher Giancarlo DiTrapano wasContinue reading “Poseur”