Basic Grammar Lesson

A pronoun is a substitute for a noun, like “she” or “it.” An antecedent is the word, phrase, or clause to which the pronoun refers. Easy, right?
It helps if your pronoun has something to refer back to. From this morning’s Redeye, the Tribune’s free daily crap newspaper:
So, David—about those Armani underwear ads.
Soccer superstar David Beckham [...]

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We Knew How Violent Reading Can Be

I was trying to describe the ennui that follows the completion of a good book to Advisor, who responded by loaning me Hélène Cixous’ Three Steps on the Ladder of Writing. Behold:
Not everyone carries out the act of reading in the same way, but there is a manner of reading comparable to the act of [...]

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Thirty Second Book Review

I’m still not done with Joan Didion’s Slouching Towards Bethlehem, even though I’m probably less than two essays from the end. I keep thinking that if I put off finishing it, I’ll blog about it right when I’m done and it’s still fresh in my mind, but of course it’s no longer fresh anyways. So [...]

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The Tide is High, But I’m Holdin’ On

The first part of Barbara Kingsolver’s essay High Tide in Tucson is perfect. It’s the kind of essay you can read over and over again and discover some new truth each time. Somehow the story of Buster the crab, an accidental stowaway from a seaside vacation, becomes Kingsolver’s story, and our story. The gentle anthropomorphization [...]

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The First Stage of Grief

Disbelief. It doesn’t seem possible to even move beyond that. My friend and former colleague Leon passed away the day after Valentine’s Day, and I don’t think I’ll ever really believe it. I am grateful to have visited him while he was in the hospital, even though I think I’ll always be haunted by the [...]

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Meet the Author

I ventured to the Newberry Library one Saturday in early December, a numbingly cold morning that begged more for my down comforter than a jaunt downtown. While looking at the library’s website a few weeks earlier, I had seen a program called “Writing Chicago Childhoods” that featured authors Elaine Soloway, Billy Lombardo, and Frank Joseph. [...]

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Another Post From the Bowels of Paper-Writing Hell

For those of you who are just here for the cute cat pictures, here’s some candy for you:

* * *
I am in the midst of paper-writing hell. As though I haven’t already suffered enough? In some ways it’s a lesser circle of hell than my thesis was, because I don’t feel [...]

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Between the Aura and the Jolt

I'm fascinated with spaces lately. If there's space, there's time, unpredictability, possibility. Spaces between the art and artist. Spaces between art and observer. And now, spaces between the aura and the jolt. I came across this particular space, or the idea of it, in the poem "Seizure" by Philip Jenks. An excerpt:
the spaces between the [...]

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Is A Writer’s Block Something I Can Bang My Head On?

One thing I've learned about writing this year is that much of it is a science. Grammar plays a huge part in elegance and eloquence, and part of being a good writer is being able to tap into that during the revision process. But, of course, much of it remains subjective.
I just received comments on [...]

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Through the Light Loupe, Part II

One of my creative nonfiction peers writes a lot about her family. I really admire that–I can't imagine writing about people who will almost certainly read what you've said about them. Can you even imagine David Sedaris' family, wondering and worrying that that one embarrassing thing they said at Thanksgiving dinner will find its way [...]

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