Catching Up with The New Yorker

I have been catching up with some back issues of the New Yorker and thought I'd discuss a few things I've found well-written and fascinating. First is a short story by Jeffrey Eugenides called "Early Music." You can read it by clicking here. Perhaps it is my incessant guilt in keeping Eugenides' novel Middlesex off my top 20 list. But, Eugenides is a skilled writer who tells riveting tales. This one is no exception.

Second is a two-part series about the railroad by John McPhee. Alas, this is not available online, but it is in the October 3 & October 10 issues. If you don't have them and want copies, e-mail me or post a message and I'll see what I can do.

I first came across McPhee in The New Yorker when I first started reading the magazine in the 1980's. He did a multi-part series about the Merchant Marine, which eventually became the book Looking For a Ship. Despite its length over several issues, I was riveted. If you are interested in checking out McPhee, check out his website here.

In other news, I have been having some formatting issues, if you can't tell. All my sidebar stuff on the Blog is down at the bottom. I have added some nifty bells & whistles, but they seem to have stuck themselves to the back tire, so they can't be seen right away. You have to scroll down all the way to see them, which is sort of self-defeating. Oh well, I am confident they will all work out in the end.