Top of the Stack
Have Pen, Will Travel
On the road with John Steinbeck, Flannery O’Connor, Jack Kerouac, Edward Gorey, and friends.
The Front Page
Growing up Stevie Wonder
“When I look out at an audience,” says Stevie Wonder, “all I see are beautiful people.”
Rock Style: Defying the American Dream
Playing rock is a means of living out a definition of the good life that defies the American dream: never have a steady job, keep crazy hours, get stoned, play music, draw constant attention, and, if you do all these things well, make lots of money.
The Seductions of MTV
Into each life, a little trash must fall. A person can’t spend every minute of the day wallowing in Schopenhauer.
The Double Life of Peter O’Toole
One day he’s hunting crows in Ireland, the next he’s poolside in Bel Air. “I can cope,” he says. “I’m a bloody movie star”
Miles Davis Blows His Horn
The King of Cool.
Adagio, ma non tropp
“Here. Begin here. With the story.” An appreciation of a literary man.
Mr. Mike’s America
Michael O’Donoghue was known as the sicko of Seventies comedy, a man who set out to disturb his audience on a primal level then dared them to laugh anyway.
The Stacks Chat: Mary Gabriel
Lee, Elaine, Joan, Helen, Grace and the Ninth Street women at the heart of the scene when New York became the art capitol of the world.
People Aren’t Tidy
“I’m curious about what makes people behave the way they do. Trying to figure that out is really fun—trying to get it right. Sometimes people can explain themselves to you, but not usually.”
And Don’t Call Her Bogie’s Baby
How Lauren Bacall left the past behind and earned her Applause.
Nick Nolte Hangs Tough
In Hollywood, you have to be a little berserk to keep from going berserk.
Ex Drops In
Knocking ’em back with the ultimate writer’s writer.