Editor and writer
ARTICLES
June 2021
For McSweeney's, an interview with John Brandon, author of the novel Ivory Shoals, set in post-Civil War Florida.
May 2021
Thinking About Place When Thinking About Tech
A conversation in Zyzzyva with Xiaowei Wang, author of Blockchain Chicken Farm: And Other Stories of Tech in China's Countryside.
January 2021
For McSweeney's, a catalog of Donald Trump's misdeeds.
December 10, 2020
The dean of Bay Area booksellers
For Alta, an interview with Paul Yamazaki, now in his 50th year at City Lights Booksellers.
November 10, 2020
Recommended books about immigration
For Alta, a look at 10 titles that highlight the struggles of migrants.
May 7, 2020
Michael McClure, the poet whose roar helped launch the '60s, dies at 87
An appreciation in The Los Angeles Times.
May 1, 2020
Lois Lowry’s Ode to the Fallen in World War II
A New York Times review of Lowry's latest book, On the Horizon
April 7, 2020
A conversation in Zyzzyva with novelist Margaret Wilkerson Sexton.
Nov. 1, 2019
Keeping the Story of D-Day Alive
A New York Times review of Allies, a novel for young readers by Alan Gratz.
Oct. 15, 2019
The Return of Olive Kitteridge, the Tart, Crotchety, Beloved Curmudgeon
A New York Times review of Olive, Again, by Elizabeth Strout.
July 10, 2019
A review for Alta of Karl Marlantes' new novel.
May 10, 2019
Finding My Mother in the Pages of Her Favorite Cookbook
An essay for Literary Hub about a marked-up copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking as a repository of memories.
April 21, 2019
Books That Expand the Possibilities of Boyhood
A New York Times review of new titles by David Macaulay, Marc Aronson, Pierre-Jacques Ober and Kate T. Parker.
Jan. 28, 2019
A marathon for the mind
A preview of Night of Ideas, a free San Francisco festival focused on "the city of the future."
Jan. 16, 2019
Mixing drinks, books and music
North Light, a bar with a new twist, opens in Oakland.
Dec. 14, 2018
Michelle Obama goes back to her nonprofit roots
During her book tour, Obama pays a visit to a San Jose community center.
Oct. 18, 2018
A podcast interview with Susan Orlean.
Oct. 11, 2018
A podcast interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson, author of Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military.
Oct. 5, 2018
Eric Idle on his new memoir, Robin Williams and why Trump isn’t funny
An interview with the author of Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: A Sortabiography.
Aug. 27, 2018
Life with — and without — Steve Jobs
A review of Small Fry, a memoir by Lisa Brennan-Jobs.
May 22, 2018
Harvey Milk: His Lives and Death
A review of a biography by Lillian Faderman.
May 15, 2018
Tom Wolfe, pioneering journalist and novelist, dies at 88
The influential writer laid the foundation for so-called New Journalism and wrote the best-sellers The Right Stuff and The Bonfire of the Vanities.
April 26, 2018
‘Hi, this is Oprah’
An interview with Tayari Jones, whose novel An American Marriage was Oprah Winfrey’s 2018 book club selection.
March 19, 2018
Ferlinghetti speaks out at 99, his voice as vital as ever
A podcast interview with the legendary co-founder of City Lights.
Feb. 23, 2018
Contested terrain
An interview with Francisco Cantú, a former Border Patrol agent who has written a memoir, The Lines Becomes a River.
Jan. 8, 2018
Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House
A review of Michael Wolff's best-seller.
Oct. 28, 2017
Jane Juska, author who chronicled search for sex late in life, dies at 84
Juska wrote the funny and frank best-selling memoir A Round-Heeled Woman: My Late-Life Adventures in Sex and Romance.
May 14, 2017
Neil deGrasse Tyson opens up on the universe, and more
An interview with the author of Astrophysics in a Hurry.
March 23, 2017
Joanne Kyger, trailblazing Beat poet, dies at 82
Kyger was a leading poet of the San Francisco Renaissance and a rare female voice of the male-dominated Beat generation.
March 16, 2017
Hitler, by Volker Ullrich, and Blitzed, by Norman Ohler
A review of two new books about Hitler.
March 9, 2017
A review of the graphic novel The Best We Could Do, by Thi Bui.
Feb. 1, 2017
Bharati Mukherjee, chronicler of Indian American life, dies at 76
Mukherjee's many works examined the Indian American immigrant experience.
Dec. 21, 2016
Farewell to the reader in chief
An essay on President Obama, who views the world in shades of gray — a quality enhanced by a lifetime of reading.
Oct. 20, 2016
Point Reyes Books names new owners
The small but vibrant Marin County bookstore turns a page.
Oct. 13, 2016
Dylan becomes first songwriter to win Nobel in literature
Dylan is the first American to be awarded the prize since Toni Morrison won it in 1993.
June 17, 2016
Late to the Ball
An interview with former New York Times Magazine editor Gerald Marzorati, who decided at age 54 to devote himself to becoming a competitive tennis player.
April 10, 2016
William Hamilton, New Yorker cartoonist who satirized high society, dies
The cartoonist was known for his wry depictions of the upper crust.
April 3, 2016
Readers unite! And raise a glass. It’s the Silent Reading Party
Daniel Handler and Dan Stone have founded a monthly event whose proceeds will help Bay Area libraries.
Jan. 6, 2016
Groucho Marx: The Comedy of Existence
A review of Lee Siegel's biography.
Nov. 5, 2015
A review of Adrian Tomine's graphic novel.
Aug. 4, 2015
Jimmy Carter discusses book, race and Willie Nelson’s love of pot
An interview with the former president, whose latest book is A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety.
July 30, 2015
Two bookstores with Bay Area roots help literary life thrive in Paris.
July 11, 2015
A review of by Pamela Newkirk's biography of Ota Benga, who was kidnapped from the Congo and displayed in a cage at the Bronx Zoo.
March 4, 2015
The Sellout
A review of Paul Beatty's satirical novel on race.
Feb. 15, 2015
Philip Levine, bard of blue-collar America, dies at 87
The former U.S. poet laureate's poems dignified working-class life.
Jan. 11, 2015
Novelist Robert Stone dies at age 77
Stone's globe-spanning, often socially charged novels delved into his characters’ despair with bleak humor.
June 16, 2014
John Waters on the road
An interview with the film director and author of Carsick.
May 23, 2014
Another Great Day at Sea, by Geoff Dyer
A review of Dyer's book about his time on the USS George H.W. Bush.
May 9, 2014
An interview with David Thomson, author of the New Biographical Dictionary of Film.
Feb. 14, 2014
A review of Tom Zoellner's Train: Riding the Rails That Created the Modern World -- From the Trans-Siberian to the Southwest Chief
Jan. 24, 2014
A review of James Magnuson's comic novel.
Oct. 4, 2013
An interactive map that features hundreds of booksellers, authors, and literary landmark and passages.
Aug. 30, 2013
A review of Amana Fontanella-Khan's book on women and power in India.
Aug. 16, 2013
Ninety Percent of Everything, by Rose George
A review of a book that explores the little-known world of shipping.
Feb. 15, 2013
Al Gore on the future
An interview with the former vice president, author of The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change.
Oct. 5, 2012
Andrew McCarthy at home and abroad
An interview with the author of The Longest Way Home: One Man's Quest for the Courage to Settle Down.
April 1, 2012
A review of Anne Enright's essay collection.
March 11, 2012
Whatever It Is, I Don't Like It
A review of an anthology by Howard Jacobson.
Dec. 18, 2011
The Beauty and the Sorrow, by Peter Englund
A review of an "intimate history" of World War I.
March 19, 2011
An interview with T.C. Boyle about his novel When the Killing's Done.
Sept. 4, 2011
Penn Jillette on the joys of atheism
An interview with the author of God, No! Signs You May Already Be An Atheist and Other Magical Tales.
Jan. 9, 2011
Radioactive: Marie and Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout
A review of Lauren Redniss' mix of drawings, photo-collages and text.
Dec. 5, 2010
Cleopatra reconsidered
An interview with the biographer Stacy Schiff.
Nov. 21, 2010
Infinite City
A review of Rebecca Solnit's San Francisco Atlas.
Nov. 7, 2010
Life
A review of Keith Richards' memoir.
July 11, 2010
Golden Gate
A review of Kevin Starr's history of the bridge.
April 4, 2010
War stories
An interview with Tim O'Brien, author of The Things They Carried on its 20th anniversary.
Feb. 21, 2010
Robert Stone keeps it short
An interview with Stone, whose latest book is the story collection Fun With Problems.
Oct. 31, 2010
A review of Avi Steinberg's memoir of his time as a prison librarian.
Aug. 29, 2010
A review of John Vaillant's The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival.
Aug. 22, 2010
Baby, We Were Meant for Each Other
A review of Scott Simon's memoir on adoption.
May 23, 2010
A review of Howard Bryant's biography of Henry Aaron.
Nov. 28, 2009
Agassi's next chapter
An interview with the tennis great and author of the memoir Open.
Nov. 28, 2009
Over the border
An interview with Luis Alberto Urrea, author of the novel Into the Beautiful North.
March 22, 2009
New York story
An interview with Richard Price, author of the novel Lush Life.