When Alexander Chee was a struggling young writer, working as a cater-waiter for William F. and Pat Buckley.
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Posted inIllustrated Title, Story
After Water
The illustrated story of California, and what happens when the water runs out.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Robert Towne on Finding the Inspiration for ‘Chinatown’ at the Library
It wasn’t the compendium of facts in the chapter “Water! Water! Water!” or indeed in the entire book. It was that Carey McWilliams wrote about Southern California with sensibilities my eye, ear, and nose recognized. Along with Chandler he made me feel that he’d not only walked down the same streets and into the same arroyo-he smelled the eucalyptus, heard the humming of high tension wires, saw the same bleeding Madras landscapes-and so a sense of deja vu was underlined by a sense of jamais vu: No writers had ever spoken as strongly to me about my home.
Posted inNonfiction
Mr. and Mrs. B
When Alexander Chee was a struggling young writer, working as a cater-waiter for William F. and Pat Buckley.
Posted inBooks, Nonfiction
The Missing History of Ravensbrück, The Nazi Concentration Camp for Women
The story of the Nazis’ only concentration camp for women has long been obscured—partly by chance, but also by historians’ apathy towards women’s history. Sarah Helm writes about the camp, where the “cream of Europe’s women” were interned alongside its prostitutes, and members of the French resistance perished alongside Red Army prisoners of war.
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
What Burns Within Us: Five Stories About Fire
Here are five pieces on fire-eaters, firefighters, fire-walkers and fire-growers.
Posted inMember Pick, Nonfiction, Story
A Very Naughty Little Girl
The extraordinary life of Janet Vaughan, who changed our relationship with blood.
Posted inFiction, Nonfiction, Quotes
Joan Didion Dismissed ‘Franny and Zooey’ as a Self-Help Book ‘for Sarah Lawrence Girls’
In 1961, Joan Didion reviewed J.D. Salinger’s Franny and Zooey for The National Review.
Posted inNonfiction, Story
Kitchen Rhythm: A Year in a Parisian Pâtisserie
An Oxford grad learns to navigate boiling sugar, sleep deprivation, and exacting pastry chefs with whom she can barely communicate.
