So Many Steps to Death: Revisiting “Brideshead Revisited”

May 21, 2013 By

Hey, so I read Brideshead Revisited again. I was in college the first time. Probably read the entire book drunk. Can’t think of a better introduction to it! Anyway, here are some scattered thoughts on re-reading it, all of which are ridiculously spoilerous. Seriously, if you haven’t read it, SKIP THIS POST and just go [...]

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“Making Amends Was Everything I Least Expected”: Anna David

March 15, 2013 By

at The Fix–I cannot get enough of these stories: I thought I knew exactly how my Ninth Step in AA would unfold. Instead, over a decade later, I’m still trying to make sense of people’s unpredictable reactions. more

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“Friendship in the Ordinary”

January 5, 2013 By

Wesley Hill on a (death-haunted!) story of women’s friendship.

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“The Death-Haunted Art of Friendship, Part IV”

November 22, 2012 By

Me on friendship and addiction, at Catholic Lane.

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From”Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die; Cherish, Perish: A Novel by David Rakoff”

August 23, 2012 By

It was sadness that gripped him far more than the fear that, if facing the truth, he had maybe a year. When poetic phrases like “eyes, look your last” become true, all you want is to stay, to hold fast. A new, fierce attachment to all of this world now pierced him. It stabbed like [...]

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As we prepare for back-to-school season

August 16, 2012 By

I’m reminded of this old piece I wrote, “The Survivor’s-Guilt Guide to College.”

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“The Death-Haunted Art of Friendship: Part III”

August 6, 2012 By

in a continuing series for Catholic Lane. Here I talk about friendship-as-kinship. I think the ending gets a little muddled–actually the whole piece could use some carding. What I want to say is both that the fragmentation of the family makes friendship and other forms of kinship all the more necessary and that friendship should [...]

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“Choosing poorly in your friends”

July 26, 2012 By

A great interview with Dan Barden, author of The Next Right Thing, which I reviewed (glowingly!) for the Weekly Standard. I love his line about “earthly justice” as well. Link via HEAR.

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