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As literature all but abandons the epic, Matt Bell’s debut novel, In the House Upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods, stands out: A modern fairy tale built from small parts—a recognizable domestic story with a dark, fabulist backbone.
Paul Theroux’s The Last Train to Zona Verde describes a visit to the South African slum of Langa. Obviously, “slum tourism” is exploitative and dehumanizing. But we can’t avert our eyes at poverty, so what is the right way to look?
The recent retirees say life after writing is a welcome relief—that they’re happy to join the ranks of those who can hear a story and not have it become an ongoing mental burden. But what’s so great about being like everybody else?
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