Dan Barry has long been one of our favorite journalists. He writes the column This Land for The New York Times. His work delves into the corners of America, examining the stories that move us apart and bring us together. He is the recipient of numerous awards for journalistic excellence, as well as the author of Pull Me Up: A Memoir, and City Lights: Stories About New York. Recently he took time from his busy schedule to answer our questions. We thank him for this.
Dark Sky Magazine: You’ve been writing This Land since 2007. How has the experience treated you?
Dan Barry: The flip answer would be that I have enough small bottles of motel shampoo to lather the borough of Brooklyn. But the truth is that the job, while taxing at times, has been a dream. Any complaints about eating too often at Subways, or waiting on the tarmacs of America, are more than offset by the privilege of wandering around this country, exploring, nosing around, trying to figure it all out. Entirely paid for, by the way, by The New York Times. In journalism, it really doesn’t get much better than this.
So, in short, the experience has treated me quite well, thank you.
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Tagged as:
Dan Barry,
Literature in the Media,
New York Times
Buddha's Dead. Now What?
Tumultuous times find us searching for higher ground, or deeper meaning, or stories through which we might find escape. The sky isn’t falling or anything, and the Red Sox did earn (win?) the Wild Card, but still. It’s times like these that make us appreciate our bookish proclivities. What better way to turn away from oneself than within the pages (digital or print) of an engrossing read? Killing the Buddha — what a provocative name! — discusses the meaning of God with people who don’t believe in God. Ever read Arthur Machen? You have, well good for you. We hadn’t either. The Guardian expounds on his deliciously odd fiction. Literary genius is poked with a stick, and James Joyce pokes back. At least that’s how Paper Cuts sees it. A big, new book, staggering with over 2,000 synonyms for drunkenness, is published. Salon chats up the linguistic attitudes of technology, the Boston Review comes clean and admits that poets are thieves, and an importantly obscure Italian philosopher has his moment in the sun. Enjoy the good times while they last. — Kevin Murphy
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Tagged as:
Literature in the Media,
Wednesday's Writerly Happenings
