The chief charm of New England was harshness of contrasts and extremes of sensibility. – Henry Adams
My mother’s side of the family, who claim to have been in New England since before the Revolution if …

Something that only a couple hundred years ago was a place to trade with Indians. Torn apart again and again by hurricanes and fires, just to be rebuilt, re-imagined, reprocessed. It’s died and been resurrected more times than I have.

[The gypsies suggest you play a smoky tune while reading. Tzigane (1924) by Maurice Ravel.]

The Cinnamon Shops (1934) by Bruno Schulz is a work every literary aficionado should read before they die. It is one …

“Just recently, I began to realize how important it was to be an enthusiast in life: if you’re interested in something, no matter what it is, go at it full speed ahead. Embrace it with …

There are people who walk through the night as if it were day, and the day as if it were night. They pass through solid walls and locked doors like actors pushing aside a curtain to walk backstage – completely unhindered, completely unseen.

“It is the first job of a writer who demands rating among the great, or even among the good, to write well.” –Dorothy Parker, 1931.
In an era when fiction marketed towards women over-relies on vampires, …