Who hasn’t weighed in on the Pulitzer committee’s failure to give a fiction award this year to either Denis Johson (Train Dreams), Karen Russell (Swamplandia!), or David Foster Wallace’s posthumously assembled novel The Pale King. There’s an excellent piece of reporting in the HuffPo explaining the inner workings of the non-decision, Nashville’s Ann Patchett (bookseller […]
Author Archives: escherx
Game Plan
March 18, 2012 – 6:35 pm
Nashville’s stormy spring is as dangerous as it is beautiful. You won’t catch me watching the Indian Wells men’s final between Federer and Isner. My boy Nadal was knocked out by Fed last night, 3 and 4, a rain-delayed match played in swirling, comparatively cold conditions that recalled Fed’s five-set, two-day long, U.S. Open quarterfinal […]
In Praise of Failure
January 3, 2012 – 5:49 pm
It wasn’t one of my New Year’s resolutions but I’m committed to blogging more. I did, however, resolve to read a story a day (on top of my other reading) and am two tales into Alan Heathcock’s Volt. Two passages I’ll share. After all, why not let a book recommend itself? They’re both from the […]
Dead Week
December 28, 2011 – 11:05 am
Two-thousand and eleven gives us this neatly packaged dead week, the last of the year, a Sunday to Sunday, Christmas to New Year’s Day, during which time it seems next to nothing gets done while the things you never seemed able to do are finally accomplished: drawers are lined, the garage is organized but still […]
Stuff
December 13, 2011 – 10:34 pm
If you have any doubt that this is a golden era in men’s tennis, watch this video. Next, watch what Rafa does at 2:35 in this other video. It’s worth it for two reasons. First, the display of absurd athleticism; second, Kim Clijsters’ mini-swoon afterward. Meanwhile, here, left, is the Piper’s cover for Ladies and […]
Parnassus
November 20, 2011 – 9:48 am
Parnassus, Nashville’s new independent bookstore, officially opened yesterday to much fanfare. It’s not surprising, given the incredible amount of advance publicity locally and nationally: a front page story in The New York Times and Publisher’s Weekly; in the November issue of Garden & Gun; in Chapter16.org; the Christian Science Monitor and NPR. This is due, […]
Federer, Kirkus!, and The Agony of Beginning
November 15, 2011 – 7:33 am
I’ve been a shitty blogger—my last entry came right after the U.S. Open final—although I have an excuse (upcoming) but must first pat myself on the back for my prescience. In my previous post, I’d said of the Rafa/Nole match that it was “a contest…”: painful, at times, to watch, really excruciating to behold, because […]
A Few Thoughts on Nadal/Djokovic XXIX
September 13, 2011 – 4:51 pm
If the 2011 U.S. Open tells the serious fan anything, it’s that men’s tennis is now a three-way conversation between Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer. In the semis, Fed’s slashing, quicksilver offense, his amped-up serve, musketeer’s movement, and better-than-ever backhand once again brought Novak to the brink, and the best article I’ve read about Roger’s second […]
Multitasking
August 23, 2011 – 9:57 am
At Nashville’s Station Inn last night, caught The Time Travelers, who were joined by the incomparable Vince Gill. They called up a guest from the audience, a gorgeous Swede named Miranda, the lead singer, she explained, of a country/western band back home and, in an accent so heavy the crowd feared for her upcoming performance, […]
Back in the Saddle
August 17, 2011 – 3:53 pm
Back in Nashville after nearly a month in New York (where I took the time to insult Bill Ryan yet again) and, after several days of unpacking and unburying myself from mail, plus hosting my father, who made the drive with me, I’m happy to report I’ve officially commenced work on my next novel. Its […]