The American Scholar asked me to contribute to their weekly online “Writing Lessons” column. I chose the secret of improvised music as revealed by Thelonious Monk–“Wrong is right”–with examples from guitarist John Abercrombie and pianist Kenny Werner.
This little piece … Read more
My second short story collection, Make Me Work, which was originally published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in 1994 (and then as a Penguin paperback in 1995), is now available for sale as an eBook from the Dzanc Books … Read more
My first short story collection, Men Under Water, which was originally published by Doubleday in 1990 (and then as a Washington Square Press paperback in 1991), is now available for sale as an eBook from the Dzanc Books Reprint … Read more
The editors of H.O.W. Journal (Helping Orphans Worldwide) asked me to donate a short story. You can read “The End of Him” for free on their site.… Read more
Published in the Summer, 2013 issue of The American Scholar. Available to read for free on their site. … Read more
Published in July, 2011 by The American Scholar as a Web exclusive. Available to read for free on their site.… Read more
Published in the December, 1993, issue of The Atlantic Monthly and still available for free on the magazine’s Web site.
This story later appeared in my short story collection Make Me Work.… Read more
Published in the December, 1994, issue of The Atlantic Monthly and still available for free via the Internet Archive.
“Somebody Up There Likes Me” later appeared in the The O. Henry Prize Stories, 1996.… Read more
Published in the September, 2007, issue of Esquire (actor Sean Penn on the cover). Available for free on the magazine’s Web site.… Read more