by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Apr 18, 2011 | reading |
The Pulitzer Prize in Fiction was awarded today to A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, “an inventive investigation of growing up and growing old in the digital age, displaying a big-hearted curiosity about cultural change at warp speed.” For more...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Apr 17, 2011 | accumulation, details, reviews |
Sherry Turkle asked scientists, humanists, artists, and designers to “trace the power of objects in their lives, objects that connect them to ideas and people.” In Evocative Objects: Things We Think With, published in 2007, you’ll find thirty-four...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Apr 13, 2011 | reviews |
Excited to have my most recent review picked up by the National Book Critics Circle and Powell’s Books as the Review-a-Day for today:
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Apr 12, 2011 | first novels |
Spring Contrary has sprung… And with a brand new look. Plus five book reviews, one of which is mine on Heather Newton’s debut novel, Under the Mercy Trees: I once stood at my grandfather’s knee, watching him do tricks with rocks. Later I backpacked by...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Apr 8, 2011 | catching moments, continuous life, essays, journeys, life, memory, mfa, my writing, place, time, truth |
As part of a series at Douglas Glover’s Numéro Cinq, my childhood…
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Apr 1, 2011 | How We Spend Our Days |
Annie Dillard wrote, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” On the first of each month, Catching Days hosts a guest writer in the series, “How We Spend Our Days.” Today, please welcome writer Shaindel Beers: Already, the way I spend my days is...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Mar 28, 2011 | catching moments, journeys, obsession, place |
In New York last weekend, Cal and I saw Memphis, the 2010 Tony Award Winner for Best Musical. It was GREAT! Saturday, we ate breakfast outside (despite the cold weather) at Sarabeth’s on the park. At The Museum of Modern Art, we saw: Picasso Guitars 1912-1914,...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Mar 24, 2011 | continuous life, craft of writing, life, novels, time, truth |
Each chapter of Jennifer Egan’s A Visit From the Goon Squad can stand alone as a story, but united, these chapters took my breath away. I got chills as I discovered yet another connection between them: Characters who age and reappear. Younger selves revealed....
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Mar 20, 2011 | craft of writing, novels |
In her selected shorts interview, Jennifer Egan talked about how, years ago, she abandoned a story because she couldn’t find any way to rein in the material. Well, in A Visit From the Goon Squad, Egan is the master of compression. In Chapter 1, she creates a...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Mar 16, 2011 | life, novels, time |
As some of you may know from my recent post, last week, Jennifer Egan’s book, A Visit from the Goon Squad, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction. This morning it was also long-listed for the Orange Prize for Fiction. A Visit From the Goon Squad is...
