I do not know what it is to be a woman in Israel. I cannot pretend to, as I have never been there. I have friends who have lived in Israel, some observant Jews, some not, but other than that, I don't have much of a clue. Yes, of course, I… Read full post »

I see my folks are getting on. And I watch their bodies change. I know they see the same in me. And it makes us both feel strange.

When I come to terms with this. My world will change for me. If I'm the Seated Woman in the Parasol, I will… Read full post »

This is an excerpt from a completed novel manuscript. The characters in this piece are Margaret, a young woman who has left rural New York and now works in a bookshop in the Lower East Side. She works for Flo, an English woman, who along with her husband, Harry, regularly smuggle… Read full post »

 This week marked the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on Mumbai, India, in which 162 people were killed, and scores injured. I began a series of articles that mirrored Virginia Quarterly Review's decision to run a four-part long-form journalism piece that would be exclusively online.

The ar… Read full post »

It's my favorite time of the literary year! The Literary Review has released their "short list" of nominees, and The Guardian, ever eager to contribute to the discussion of literature, is only too happy to post some of the passages in question.

One of the things I love about the… Read full post »

In a bizarre turn of events, an Australian Member of Parliament has accused the Church of Scientology of all manner of crimes from the floor of the Senate.

In a senate speech late on Tuesday, independent south Australia senator Nick Xenophon said: “Scientology is not a religious organisation. I… Read full post »

Part III is now posted.

Imagine what we would learn if one of the 19 suicide bombers who took out the World Trade Center and the Pentagon had lived. In Mumbai, one of the terrorists did live, and his interview in the hospital bed brought up a plethora of feelings for… Read full post »

 Oh, what to make of the "sexy" thing? How do I pinpoint those qualities in a man that cause me to want to reach out my fingers, stroke the inside of his arm; move close enough to him that I can smell the essence of him; feel my breasts perk up… Read full post »

 If you have not yet started reading Jason Motlagh's amazing reporting of the terror attacks on Mumbai, please do.

Part I was published yesterday, part II today. In all, four parts will be published this week. 

 This is astounding reporting. The interweaving of the actions of the ter… Read full post »

Mumbai (once upon a time known as Bombay) India was subject last November to terror attacks that killed more than 180 people and injured scores more. This week, Virginia Quarterly Review publishes a four-part series, totaling 19,000 words, written by Jason Motlagh, on the planning, execution, and aft… Read full post »

The Guardian reports that a new drug, originally tested as an antidepressant, has been shown to increase sexual desire in women.

Women who took the drug during the six-month trial reported more satisfying sexual encounters and higher libidos than those who were given a placebo.

Tomorrow night, a friend is throwing a Saturday night dance party. It's her first, and she sort of put me in charge of the playlists. I've tried to mix it up quite a bit, so I've got everthing from Sam Cooke to Jay-Z, from Dusty Springfield to Rihanna. Undoubtedly, someone will… Read full post »

Being fat in Japan is no longer a matter of shame or embarrassment: the size of your waist is now determined by law.

Concerned about rising rates of both in a graying nation, Japanese lawmakers last year set a maximum waistline size for anyone age 40 and… Read full post »

Some of you know that this is a painful day for me. That story is here, Yves' sudden death from a brain aneurysm, the fact that it was our first date, that he had been alone for two years, that my being with him on that one particular night of all… Read full post »

Twenty years ago, when both my then-husband and I found ourselves cemented to our seats in front of our televisions, I was also a graduate student.

My German history professor, a beautiful, articulate, frighteningly intelligent woman put the Wall's coming down into perspective for me… Read full post »

I've been walking through cemeteries a lot this past week or so. The puppy, who has tripled her size in the seven weeks we've had her (so much for that "little dog" we thought we were getting), knows that the prize for getting through the cemetery is the open fields beyond… Read full post »

 This is from a novel manuscript, as yet unpublished. It's been sitting in a drawer now for four years. Not sure if I'll ever pull it out and re-write it. This scene takes place during a huge demonstration during a strike. The year is 1909. The place? Near Washington Square Park--which,… Read full post »

Seriously, Christian Louboutin, some asshat designer who designs shoes that women break their ankles in, has proclaimed that Barbie's ankles are too fat.

First of all, Barbie's a doll. A plastic doll. 

Second, anyone who has ever played with Barbie knows that her ankles and feet… Read full post »

Part I

Before I lay before you the crimes for which Matteuccia di Francesco was convicted, I must first tell you the likely way in which such information was extracted.

The strappado was a pulley system. The defendant had his or her hands tied behind the back, and then as… Read full post »

In the Name of God, Amen.

Thus begins the notarial summary of the trial record and condemnation of Matteuccia di Francesco, in March of 1428, in Todi, Italy. Matteuccia's case was one of the pieces of evidence that I was using in building my dissertation's argument: namely, that Franciscan Observant… Read full post »

Dear College Student,

 Yes, it's me again. You've got me stewing, again, about the state of the world and who, exactly, is going to inherit the earth. 

Last night, I drove the 30 miles back to campus to lead a book discussion group. The campus chose a "common book" for… Read full post »

To drive at night around here is to drive through black velvet. On the back roads, on a moonless night, you see only what the headlights reveal. And you guess what might lie beyond the pale glimmer of your high beams.

One night, around this time of year, I was… Read full post »

It's funny how events are open to interpretation. Actually, it's a good thing that events are open to interpretation, or most of us in academia, journalism, and the blogosphere would have nothing to talk about.

Take, for example, another stellar column from the New York… Read full post »

Incensed that parents are complaining that Where the Wild Things Are is too frightening for children, Maurice Sendak responded to a reporter's query thusly:

"I would tell them to go to hell," Sendak said. And if children can't handle the story, they should "go home," he added. "Or wet your pants.… Read full post »

How I wish the Equal Rights Amendment had passed. Maybe if it had, I would be considered a person in this country, rather than a bargaining chip. You see, in all the crackle-and-fuzz that has passed for debate on whether Americans have a basic right to not… Read full post »