The Past Was So Past It Hurt.

I Am In Boston Right Now, In Fact, To Do Work At The New England Historical Genealogical Library, Where I'm Trying To Finish Up Tracing My Lineage Back To The Seventeenth Century.

I Think Literature Is Best When It's Voicing What We Would Prefer Not To Talk About.

The Great Recession Is Not Imaginary, And The Effects Loom Large. There Was An Article In The Nyt About The Galloping Death Rate Among White Men In Middle Age. Higher Than Among Any Other Demographic, Etc. Mostly Death By Drugs, Alcohol, Or Suicide. Many Of Them Rural. My Feeling Is That It's Many People Who Haven't Been Able To Get Back Into The Work Force. Reg Morse Is An Example Of The Problem.

I'm Not The Guy To Ask About The Most Up To Date Stuff.

Tangled In One Another's Arms And Nine Times Out Of Ten The Things You Think About A Person Make It Impossible To Touch Them.