Read This: Redeployment

I love a good short story collection, and specifically remember discovering the works of Tobias Wolff, Tim O'Brien and Junior Diaz as an undergrad. There is nothing more satisfying than finding a book that you just don't want to end, or a collection that keeps you in the house on an otherwise gorgeous day.

That's how I felt this weekend about Redeployment a collection of short stories about life during the Iraq War. It's sad and nuanced and there's plenty of gallows humor. It'll give you a better understanding of the Iraq War than anything you'll find in the news.

It's gotten some great review on The New York Times and NPR. You can buy it here and thank me later.

Casual Yiddish

Today at my Columbia alumni fiction group, I got probably the best comment ever on the first chapter of a novel I am working on:

"If your protagonist has a reason for the casual employment of Yiddish, it will need to be explained for the general reader."

You know you're a real New Yorker when casual Yiddish starts showing up in your recreational fiction projects.

En route to the meeting I noticed that on 113th Street someone had the sense to use a chain link fence around a parking lot as a trellis for roses. Oh, Columbia. You're so civilized.