Writings
- Book Reviews‘Forbidden Notebook’ is a slyly subversive novel by a writer once banned (Feb 2023)
- EssaysJoan Didion’s Priceless Sunglasses (Nov 2022)
- EssaysWallace Stegner and the Trap of Using Other People’s Writing (Jun 2022)
- EssaysGeorgia O’Keeffe Finally Arrives in Paris (Oct 2021)
- Anthologies & CollectionsModern Woolfian Fiction (Aug 2021)
- EssaysHow I Met the Reclusive Georgia O’Keeffe (Oct 2020)
- EssaysMilitarizing the Police (Jul 2020)
- Essays“Ahem, Cornwall!” (What I Did During Covid) (Jun 2020)
- EssaysUPDATE: Trump and the Criminal Culture (May 2020)
- EssaysQuarantine Culture Recommendations (Apr 2020)
- EssaysTrump and the Criminal Culture (Updated) (Apr 2020)
- Holding Virginia Woolf in Your Hands, in The New Yorker (Jan 2020)
- EssaysThe Rivalry between Georgia O’Keeffe and her sister Ida (Sep 2019)
- EssaysStruggling to Mine Family History for My Novel (May 2019)
- EssaysReading Myself Aloud: Making the Audio Book of Dawson’s Fall (Apr 2019)
- TravelReturned to the wild: A 3,500-acre estate outside London is ruled by nature (Jan 2019)
- Book ReviewsChristie Watson Is a Lovely Writer — and, Judging From This Book, a Gifted Nurse (Jul 2018)
- EssaysBreathing (Jul 2018)
- EssaysThe Contradictions of Hemingway’s House in Cuba (Dec 2017)
- EssaysTeaching “Madame Bovary” (Nov 2017)
- EssaysWriters, Veterans, Citizens take to the Halls of Congress (Feb 2017)
- Anthologies & CollectionsForward to The Road Ahead (Jan 2017)The Road Ahead
- Book ReviewsFor Two Small-Town Families, War Is the Tie That Binds (Jan 2017)
- EssaysDonald Trump: Making the Word ‘Pussy’ Great Again, Bigly (Jan 2017)
- EssaysMorning After (Nov 2016)
- EssaysIntroduction to LOVING, by Henry Green (Oct 2016)
- EssaysThe violation of Elena Ferrante (Oct 2016)
- EssaysDear President: A Message for the Next Commander in Chief From Fifty American Poets and Writers (Aug 2017)
- EssaysAuthors Guild: Letter from the President (Mar 2016)
- EssaysHow Google Stole the Work of Millions of Authors (Feb 2016)
- Book Reviews‘Youngblood’ review: A novel about the Iraq War from a soldier who was there (Jan 2016)
- EssaysWhy Fiction Matters (Oct 2015)
- Book ReviewsSweet Caress, by William Boyd (Sep 2015)
- EssaysAgainst Lolita (Sep 2015)
- EssaysAn introduction to Elizabeth Taylor’s A View of the Harbour (Jun 2015)
- EssaysRemembering Robert Stone (Jan 2015)
- Book ReviewsFaith and Suspicion: On Marilynne Robinson’s ‘Lila’ (Jan 2015)
- EssaysSparta (Sep 2014)
- Book ReviewsMy Life as a Foreign Country by Brian Turner (Sep 2014)
- Book ReviewsBetween Women (Sep 2014)
- EssaysThe Right to Write (Jun 2014)
- EssaysAway (Jun 2014)
- EssaysArmy of Shadows (Jun 2014)
- EssaysOn Philip Seymour Hoffman and Heroin (Feb 2014)
- Anthologies & CollectionsFacing the Change: Personal Encounters with Global Warming (Feb 2014)Torrey House Press
- EssaysReading to Write (Dec 2013)
- EssaysA Tribute to Alice Munro (Oct 2013)
- EssaysWriters on Munro (Oct 2013)
- Book ReviewsLove Story Electrifies Beneath The Silhouette ‘Of Venus’ (Sep 2013)
- Book ReviewsReview of Someone, latest novel by Alice McDermott (Sep 2013)
- EssaysThe Dark Heart of James Salter (Jun 2013)
- EssaysBurn Your Letters? (May 2013)
- EssaysGod Calls (Apr 2013)
- EssaysHeart’s Desire (Mar 2013)
- EssaysOpera on HD (Mar 2013)
- EssaysNew York’s Phantom Bookstores (Feb 2013)
- EssaysHow I Get to ‘Write’ (Jan 2013)
- Anthologies & CollectionsWhat My Mother Gave Me (Jan 2013)Algonquin
- TravelA Different Sort of Nature: The Gardens of Kyoto (Oct 2012)
- EssaysResponse to Jonathan Franzen on Edith Wharton (Aug 2012)
- Book ReviewsMarilynne Robinson’s ‘When I Was a Child I Read Books’: Essays on faith, reading (May 2012)
- EssaysEdith Wharton, a Writer’s Reflections (Apr 2012)
- EssaysThe Strange Career of Frank Dawson (Mar 2012)
- EssaysThe Lethal Consequences of Fracking (Feb 2012)
- Book ReviewsAnne Enright’s The Forgotten Waltz (Nov 2011)
- EssaysMy Wooden Deer Carving (Nov 2011)
- EssaysGreat-Aunt Hattie’s ‘Little Book’ (Sep 2011)
- EssaysIn the North Tower (Sep 2011)
- EssaysVS Naipaul and Women’s Tosh (Jun 2011)
- EssaysNaipaul’s Comments Reflective Of ‘Hubris (Jun 2011)
- Book ReviewsFrancisco Goldman’s Say Her Name (Apr 2011)
- EssaysUp Front: Roxana Robinson (Jan 2011)
- Book ReviewsStories of Dislocation and Relocation (Jan 2011)
- Book ReviewsPhilip Roth’s Nemesis (Oct 2010)
- EssaysParalyzed: Learning to Live in the Shadow of Polio (Sep 2010)
- EssaysVanishing Point (Jul 2010)
- Short StoriesHoney (May 2010)The American Scholar
- Short StoriesThis Is America (Apr 2010)The Atlantic
- Short StoriesThe Bureau (Apr 2010)
- Book ReviewsThe Privileges (Jan 2010)The New York Times Book Review
- Anthologies & CollectionsTable of Contents (Jan 2010)Adams Media
- Anthologies & CollectionsMore New York Stories (Jan 2010)NYU Press
- Short StoriesThe Trade (Dec 2009)PEN Journal
- EssaysKentucky Bread (Nov 2009)
- Book ReviewsRichard Russo’s That Old Cape Magic (Aug 2009)The New York Times Book Review
- EssaysStopping Heroin Before It’s Too Late (Jul 2009)
- EssaysUnpacking (Jun 2009)The New York Times
- EssaysThe Writer’s Notebook (Jun 2009)
- EssaysSoul Train (May 2009)The New York Times
- Book ReviewsNancy Clark’s, The Hills at Home (Mar 2009)The New York Times
- EssaysAnd if that mockingbird don’t sing (Mar 2009)
- EssaysA Mockingbird’s Cry of Desperation (Mar 2009)
- Book ReviewsThe Good Parents (Feb 2009)*The New York Times Book Review* / *International Herald Tribune*
- EssaysOn John Updike (Jan 2009)
- Book ReviewsCarlos Fuentes’ Happy Families (Oct 2008)The Washington Post
- Short StoriesThe Finish Line (Oct 2008)Good Housekeeping
- EssaysClassics: On Edith Wharton (Jul 2008)Chekhov's Mistress
- EssaysCampaign for the American Reader (Jul 2008)
- EssaysBook Notes: Cost (Jun 2008)
- EssaysA Literary Glass Ceiling (Apr 2008)Chicago Tribune
- EssaysMy Mother’s Home (Dec 2007)The New York Times
- Short StoriesThe Leap (Dec 2007)The American Scholar
- EssaysNan (Oct 2007)More magazine
- EssaysNatural Resources Defense Council (Jul 2007)NRDC Action Blog
- Anthologies & CollectionsBad Girls: 26 Writers Misbehave (Jul 2007)
- EssaysThe Novelist and the Curious Cabbie (Jun 2007)The New York Times
- EssaysDrowning in Apathy (Jan 2007)The Philadelphia Inquirer
- Anthologies & CollectionsThe Empty Nest (Jan 2007)Hyperion
- Anthologies & CollectionsMr. Wrong (Jan 2007)Ballantine Books
- Anthologies & CollectionsIntroduction to The New York Stories of Edith Wharton (Jan 2007)New York Review of Books
- EssaysWild Duck (Dec 2006)The Southern Review
- EssaysThe Night Ride (Nov 2006)More magazine
- EssaysThe Monarch and the Milkweed (Sep 2006)International Herald Tribune
- EssaysThe Monarch and the Milkweed (Sep 2006)The Boston Globe
- EssaysMother, Once Removed (Jun 2006)Real Simple
- TravelSailing Through the Classics (Feb 2006)The New York Times
- EssaysWatching as the World Vanishes (Jan 2006)The Boston Globe
- Anthologies & CollectionsThis Is Not Chick Lit: Original Stories by America’s Best Women Writers (Jan 2006)Random House
- Anthologies & CollectionsMy Father Married Your Mother (Jan 2006)W. W. Norton
- EssaysThis Dog’s Life (Oct 2005)Women's Health
- EssaysGendered Genres (Aug 2005)Chicago Tribune
- EssaysOn Writing (Jul 2005)
- EssaysNRDC Action Blog (Jul 2005)NRDC Action Blog
- EssaysWriting Spaces (Apr 2005)
- Short StoriesA Perfect Stranger (Apr 2005)One Story
- Book ReviewsIn the Company of Crows and Ravens (Jan 2005)The Wilson Quarterly
- EssaysForeword to The Best Early Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald (Jan 2005)Modern Library
- EssaysCoyote (Jan 2005)Mississippi Review
- EssaysBreathing Partners (Oct 2004)The Boston Globe
- Short StoriesIntersection (Sep 2004)Ms. magazine
- TravelNew Zealand’s Natural Wonders (Jul 2004)Travel and Leisure
- Short StoriesBlind Man (Jun 2004)Daedalus
- TravelTo Russia, With Books (May 2004)The New York Times
- EssaysA Hare Out of Season (Feb 2004)The Boston Globe
- TravelThe Lairs of the Russian Literary Lions (Dec 2003)The New York Times
- EssaysThe Setting of Sweetwater (Dec 2003)Adirondack Life
- EssaysMy Dog Lacey (Sep 2003)The Bark
- EssaysThe Fabric of Life in a Meadow (Jul 2003)Fine Gardening
- TravelWombats and Wallabies (Jun 2003)The New York Times
- EssaysA Calm, Quiet Place: Watermark (Jun 2003)House Beautiful
- Short StoriesAt the Beach (May 2003)Good Housekeeping
- EssaysIntroduction to The Old Maid: The Fifties (Jan 2003)Modern Library
- EssaysBox Step (Dec 2002)House and Garden
- Short StoriesTreatment (Sep 2002)The Atlantic Monthly
- EssaysChandelier (Aug 2002)The New York Times
- Book ReviewsThe Last Summer (Jul 2002)The Washington Post
- Book ReviewsOn Eugene McCabe’s, Death and Nightingales (Apr 2002)The Washington Post Book World
- Anthologies & CollectionsCity Secrets: New York City (Jan 2002)The Little Bookroom
- Anthologies & Collections110 Stories: New York Writes After September 11 (Jan 2002)NYU Press
- EssaysHere Comes the Mother of the Bride (Aug 2001)Vogue
- EssaysGreat Expectations (Jan 2001)The New York Times Magazine
- EssaysThe Ice Age (Jan 2001)The New York Times Book Review
- Anthologies & CollectionsWriting for a Lifetime: Contemporary Readings From Popular Sources (Jan 2001)Prentice-Hall
- Anthologies & CollectionsWriters on Writing: Collected Essays From the New York Times (Jan 2001)Times Books
- Anthologies & CollectionsBest American Mystery Stories of 2001 (Jan 2001)Houghton Mifflin
- Short StoriesFamily Christmas (Dec 2000)The Atlantic Monthly
- EssaysListening Silence (Oct 2000)The Wall Street Journal
- EssaysDogs in My Life (Sep 2000)Victoria Magazine
- Short StoriesThe Face-Lift (Aug 2000)The Atlantic Monthly
- EssaysIf You Write the Story… (Jul 2000)The New York Times
- TravelA Walking Trip in the Sicilian Countryside (Mar 2000)Travel and Leisure
- Book ReviewsKaren Bender’s Like Normal People (Jan 2000)The Washington Post
- Short StoriesAssistance (Dec 1999)The Atlantic Monthly
- EssaysInstant Intimacy (Apr 1999)The New York Times Magazine
- EssaysWhen Tragedy in Literature Is a Family Affair (Nov 1998)The Boston Globe
- EssaysCensorship or Common Sense (Oct 1998)The New York Times
- Book ReviewsSusan Minot’s Evening (Oct 1998)The New York Times
- EssaysPersonal Growth (May 1998)House and Garden
- Book ReviewsDorothy Allison’s Cavedweller (Apr 1998)The Washington Post
- Book ReviewsDavid Gates’, Preston Falls (Feb 1998)The Washington Post
- Anthologies & CollectionsThe Second Penguin Book of Modern Women’s Short Stories (Jan 1998)Michael Joseph
- Book Reviews(Dec 1997)The New York Times
- Book ReviewsFernanda Eberstadt’s When the Sons of Heaven Meet the Daughters of the Earth (Mar 1997)The New York Times
- EssaysThe Stepmother (Feb 1997)Vogue
- Book ReviewsJanet Peery’s The River Beyond the World (Dec 1996)The Washington Post
- Book ReviewsShena Mackay’s The Orchard on Fire (Nov 1996)The New York Times
- Book ReviewsMona Simpson’s A Regular Guy (Oct 1996)The Washington Post Book World
- TravelHorses of Another Color (Jul 1996)The New York Times
- Book ReviewsLouise Erdrich’s Tales of Burning Love (Apr 1996)The Washington Post
- Short StoriesThe Favor (Jan 1996)The Atlantic Monthly
- Anthologies & CollectionsMothers: Twenty Stories of Contemporary Motherhood (Jan 1996)Farrar Straus
- Book ReviewsSue Miller’s The Distinguished Guest (May 1995)The Los Angeles Times
- Short StoriesKing of the Sky (Nov 1994)Harper's
- Short StoriesLeaving Home (Sep 1994)The Atlantic Monthly
- TravelCarl Larsson’s House (May 1994)The New York Times
- Anthologies & CollectionsThe Best American Short Stories 1994 (Jan 1994)Houghton Mifflin
- Book ReviewsBeatrice Kert’s, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller (Oct 1993)The New York Times
- Short StoriesSleepover (May 1993)Glimmer Train
- Book ReviewsMary Morris’s, A Mother’s Love (Apr 1993)The New York Times
- Short StoriesMr. Sumarsono (Apr 1993)The Atlantic Monthly
- Book ReviewsDiane Johnson’s Natural Opium (Jan 1993)The New York Times
- Book ReviewsLouis Auchincloss’s False Gods (Mar 1992)The New York Times
- Art HistoryWilliam M. Harnett (Jan 1992)Harry Abrams
- Anthologies & CollectionsIntroduction to A Matter of Prejudice (Jan 1992)Bantam
- Anthologies & CollectionsContemporary New England Stories (Jan 1992)Globe Pequot Press
- Book ReviewsPeter Cameron, Far-Flung (Sep 1991)The New York Times
- Book ReviewsOn David Small’s Alone (Jul 1991)The New York Times
- Book ReviewsLearning to Look and Gallery Going (Jun 1991)Newsday
- Short StoriesThe Time for Kissing (Feb 1991)The Atlantic Monthly
- Short StoriesAt the Heart of My Life (Graduation) (Sep 1990)Wigwag magazine
- TravelBulls, Bravery, and Bounty in St.-Remy (May 1990)The New York Times
- Book ReviewsRebels on 8th Street: Julianna Force and the Whitney Museum of American Art (Apr 1990)The New York Times
- Short StoriesA Glimpse of Scarlet (Mar 1990)New York Woman
- Anthologies & CollectionsThe Resourceful Writer: Readings to Accompany the Harbrace College Handbook, Second Edition (Jan 1990)Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
- TravelOn the Ancient Nile, a Modern Voyage (Oct 1989)The New York Times
- TravelA Puritan at the Helm (Mar 1989)The New York Times
- Anthologies & CollectionsWives and Husbands: 20 Stories About Marriage (Jan 1989)Mentor Books
- TravelInvesting in an Absence of Civilization (Dec 1988)The New York Times
- Book ReviewsJill Paton Walsh, Lapsing (Jan 1988)The New York Times
- Short StoriesCharity Dance (Dec 1987)The Southern Review
- Short StoriesCharity Dance (Jul 1987)The Fiction Magazine
- TravelTotal Immersion in a Flood of French (Feb 1987)The New York Times
- Book ReviewsDorie Friend, Family Laundry (Jan 1987)The New York Times
- TravelJohn Gardner Tennis Ranch (Nov 1986)The New York Times
- Book ReviewsParlour 4 and Other Stories (Aug 1986)The New York Times
- TravelThe Lure of London’s Chelsea Flower Show (Apr 1986)The New York Times
- Book ReviewsFrancis King, One Is a Wanderer (Mar 1986)The New York Times
- Short StoriesSnowfall (Feb 1986)The Fiction Magazine
- Book ReviewsMonuments and Maidens: The Allegory of the Female Form (Dec 1985)The Philadelphia Inquirer
- Book ReviewsAt Freddie’s (Sep 1985)The New York Times
- Short StoriesLayering (Aug 1985)The Fiction Magazine
- Book ReviewsJewels (Apr 1985)The New York Times
- Book ReviewsVilla Aphrodite (Nov 1984)The New York Times
- Book ReviewsThree Novels (Mar 1984)The Philadelphia Inquirer
- Art HistoryIntroduction to Arthur Dove (Jan 1984)University of Delaware Press
- Short StoriesGetting On (Mar 1983)The New Yorker
- Art History19th Century Picnic Paintings: An Arcadian Idyll (Jan 1983)Art & Antiques
- Art HistoryThe Bathing Scene: People on the Beach in American Art, 1700–1900 (Sep 1981)Antiques World
- Art HistoryPlane Truths (Sep 1981)Art & Antiques
- Art HistoryLand of Plenty: 19th Century American Picnic and Harvest Scenes (Jan 1981)The Katonah Gallery
- Art HistoryWhere Are America’s Missing Masterpieces? (Dec 1980)ARTnews
- Short StoriesDaughter (Nov 1980)McCall's
- Art HistoryPlane Truths: 19th Century American Trompe l’Oeil Painting (Jan 1980)The Katonah Gallery
- The Age of Blood and Iron: Marsden Hartley in Berlin (Oct 1979)Arts
- Art HistoryShapes of Industry: First Images in American Art (Jan 1975)Terry Dintenfass Gallery
- Art HistoryRousseau, Buffalo Bill, and the European Image of the American Indian (Jan 1975)ARTnews