After the Tall Timber by Renata Adler
If you’re one to frequent literary circles, you’ve probably heard Renata Adler’s name more than once over the past couple of years. When the New York Review of Books decided to exhume two of her...
View ArticleHold Still by Sally Mann
Driving down River Road an hour outside of New Orleans, a byway named for the manner in which the pavement follows the curves of the Mississippi, the passengers in our car were silent. Under a hush, we...
View ArticleRIP #1: Washington Phillips
To consume the flesh, blood and bones of any creature is to celebrate death. This planet is living and provides life. “‘Take these green herbs for your meat’. Life comes from life, and death comes from...
View ArticleR.I.P. #2: The Museum of Death
I am not surprised when, upon finishing a self-guided tour of the Museum of Death in New Orleans, I find myself privy to a pissing contest between the proprietors, JD and Scott, over which of them has...
View ArticleA Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin
“Ma wrote true stories, not necessarily autobiographical, but close enough for horseshoes,” wrote Mark Berlin, one of Lucia’s four sons, on a memorial website published upon her death in 2004, a day...
View ArticleR.I.P. #3: Facts
Three facts:Recurrence rates for testicular cancer beyond two years seem to be less than 5% and may be in the 2-3% range.I don’t believe in god or fate but I do believe in self-fulfilling...
View ArticleR.I.P. #4: The Time Is Near
In my neighborhood a hearse is parked outside of a regular home on a regular, pot-holed street. It does not belong to a funeral director, or I can only presume that it doesn’t belong to anyone involved...
View ArticleThe Man with the Biggest Mouth
“The guys with the biggest mouths are always the most fragile.”–Donald Trump, at a rally in New Orleans, March 4th 2016Leaving the airplane hangar, thousands of Trump 2016 signs sandwiched under the...
View ArticleR.I.P. #5: Fantastic Casket
I begin with a design for a hearse.For Christ’s sake not black —nor white either — and not polished!Let it be weathered — like a farm wagon —with gilt wheels...
View ArticleR.I.P. #6: Odd Habits
On an impulse that in no way needed sating, I recently wandered into a local flea market and purchased a 60s-era swimsuit, a neon red floor-length dress, and an electric blue wool poncho from a woman...
View ArticleR.I.P. #7: Naiveté
Beside the pillow, the phone emitted two singular dings. Even from within a fever’s dense fog, I grasped the strangeness of those sounds: rapidly sent messages at a too-early morning hour. We had been...
View ArticleR.I.P. #8: Inauguration Day
The morning after the election, we were all still in bed, it seemed, calling other women. We called up our mothers, our friends—best and distant—our sisters, our daughters. On Facebook, we “liked” the...
View ArticleR.I.P. #9: Who Died in This House?
Roy Condrey is the founder of DiedInHouse.com, a site that allows you to plug in your address and, for a fee, get a report that reveals how many deaths occurred at your home. A DiedInHouse.com report...
View ArticleR.I.P.: A Mortician’s Tale
For the overstressed, neurotic, and habitually frenzied, video games can offer a form of easy relaxation. People justify video game bad behavior such as killing prostitutes and little girls,...
View ArticleR.I.P.: Labor In, Labor Out
Shelby Kirillin is an “end of life doula.” Not a “death doula” or “death midwife.” To describe the particular kind of work that she performs, Kirillin prefers the more precise term. That’s because, to...
View ArticleR.I.P.: Baby Bird
Someone once said something to me about the importance of a child experiencing the death of an animal. Give a boy a dog so he can learn about loss. Gift a girl a pet so she learns how to let go. Yet,...
View ArticleRumpus Exclusive: Cover Reveal and Excerpt from Home Making
We’re thrilled to bring you this exclusive first look at the cover of Lee Matalone’s debut novel, Home Making, forthcoming from Harper Perennial in February 2020. Below, book designer Robin Bilardello...
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