Our man in Boston talks to the Pulitzer-winning novelist about his new memoir, Thoughts Without Cigarettes, as well as nights in New York, parks in Berlin, how publishing currently compares to Indian restaurants, what life would be like if Mambo Kings hadn’t hit it big, and the difficulties of writing about yourself.
For some Americans, the Parisian way of life is best. Others simply prefer “freedom fries.” A two-week journey across the United States—passing through a handful of small towns named Paris—to find out what Americans really think about the French these days.
Twenty years ago—or even 10—Nashville was falling to the bottom of any list of top U.S. destinations. Music City’s recent resurgence is a reminder of what Americans really value.
For 50 years, a fire has been raging in mining tunnels beneath Centralia, Pa. With the town mostly evacuated long ago, what’s left? Mostly journalists and other outsiders looking in.
For some Americans, the French way of life is best. Other people simply prefer “freedom fries.” A two-week journey across the U.S.—passing through a handful of towns named Paris—to find out what Americans really think about France today. (Part three of four.)
For some Americans, the French way of life is best. Other people simply prefer “freedom fries.” A two-week journey across the U.S.—passing through a handful of towns named Paris—to find out what Americans really think about France today. (Part two of four.)
Centennial, Wyo. ...I liked Centennial, with its funky main drag, its ancient police car parked near the highway to deter speeders and, when I first arrived, its five bars to...
For some Americans, the French way of life is best. Others simply prefer “freedom fries.” A two-week journey across the U.S.—passing through a handful of towns named Paris—to find out what Americans really think about France today. (Parts one through three of four.)
Elegance found inside an Arizona parking lot of retired B-52 bombers, where function and form can be equally disturbing.
Some decisions are best made heedlessly, based on the chance for an epic story—and some people think like that all the time. A report on what it’s like to slide down a volcano on a piece of sheet metal at 55 mph.
More than two decades later, a return visit to Tiananmen Square finds it scrubbed clean—just as it was immediately following the Incident. Except now there is thick smog, and ghosts. In contemporary Beijing, the past is like Kentucky Fried Chicken: unavoidable.
When you’re 16 and searching, Jack Kerouac’s urge to hit the road can seem inspired, or at least inspiring. Later, you wonder if his literature was actually early-onset LiveJournal. Later still, On the Road deserves one more look.