Louis Menand
Louis Menand
Louis Menandis an American critic and essayist, best known for his book The Metaphysical Club, an intellectual and cultural history of late 19th and early 20th century America...
met particular toward warmth
When I met him, I didn't feel a particular warmth toward him.
unhappy doe earth
It’s all in the genes”: an explanation for the way things are that does not threaten the way things are. Why should someone feel unhappy or engage in antisocial behavior when that person is living in the freest and most prosperous nation on earth? It can’t be the system! There must be a flaw in the wiring somewhere.
puff stories outcomes
The short story is not as restrictive as the sonnet, but, of all the literary forms, it is possibly the most single-minded. ...at the end there has to be the literary equivalent of the magician's puff of smoke, an outcome that is both startling and anticipated.
reader hard ifs
It's very hard to know who your readers are, but that's who I'm... if I have somebody in my head, that's probably who it is.
fun thinking fields
I think in general there's no point in going into a field like English literature if you're not going to have fun with it.