Tag Archives: writing

Frozen Versus Canned

Posted on August 21, 2018 by JMN

Hollie Jean Burmeister makes such a to-do over her old-fashioned frozen pies. I don’t know what the big fuss is. The canned pies at Mustang Mart cost ninety-eight cents apiece, half of what the frozen ones do. The Kandi-Whip gets … Continue reading →

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Personal Goal

Posted on August 20, 2018 by JMN

When I was a student of literature I recall being influenced by a school of critical theory (Rene Wellek?) that said an author’s biography was irrelevant to a consideration of his or her text. Once it was loosed from the … Continue reading →

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Comment on a Comment

Posted on August 18, 2018 by JMN

I very much appreciate supportive comments. They encourage me to up my game. I quoted a paragraph from a remembrance of V.S. Naipaul published by Aatish Taseer in the NYTimes: Taseer is a writer I had not encountered previously. What … Continue reading →

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On V.S. Naipaul

Posted on August 16, 2018 by JMN

He never looked away. I was with him in Wiltshire soon after my father, the governor of Punjab in Pakistan, was assassinated. I had been estranged from my father and was not sure how to mourn him. Mr. Naipaul, with … Continue reading →

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Proportion

Posted on August 16, 2018 by JMN

The most important word in art is “proportion.” How much? How long is this joke going to be? How many words? How many minutes? And getting that right is what makes it art or what makes it mediocre. (Jerry Seinfeld, … Continue reading →

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Sir Alistair Has Much in Common

Posted on July 31, 2018 by JMN

Sir Alistair Chichester is just like you in so many ways: He can quaff a pint with the next man at the Thane of Thoth; he enjoys his Marmite soldiers with an egg, his faggots with mushy peas, his bangers … Continue reading →

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Finger Hut Follies

Posted on July 25, 2018 by JMN

Mimsy and Chance Lafarge went to Cloudburst for the weekend to celebrate their tenth anniversary. Drove up in two cars with Dandi and Mitch Oddbocker and Shay and Rafe Bickford. Planned to split up on Saturday so Mimsy, Dandi, and … Continue reading →

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Cressida and Hermione

Posted on July 22, 2018 by JMN

Cressida’s fiancé Rupert plays midfield for the Tottenham Hotspurs. Her friend Hermione, only daughter of Sir Hubert Dalgleish, fancies Orlando, an enigmatic striker for the Northampton Avengers. Tut tut. Le coeur a ses raisons, etc., wouldn’t you say, if only … Continue reading →

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“Madame Declines”

Posted on July 21, 2018 by JMN

Madame Declines She revels in how much she couldn’t eat, And favors guests with bite-by-bite accounts Of steaks foregone and casseroles’ defeat, Sweets unsavored, succulence renounced, Salads, fruits, and relishes galore Spurned with a disdainful “Nevermore!” She weighs in mightily … Continue reading →

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Belle’s Interview by the “Horn & Haggler”

Posted on July 19, 2018 by JMN

If you’re gonna put this in the newspaper, hon, I want you to get it right. My name is Garnet Belle — Belle with an ‘e.’ I was a Brumbacher before I married Montgomery Clyde Hatch. My granddaddy Willibald Urqhardt … Continue reading →

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