Novelist Charles Dickens and the musician Prince were very different types of artists, but they also had a lot in common. A new book chronicling their extraordinary careers becomes a larger meditation on perfectionism and creativity itself. Plus...
Our conversation about bang out sick and bang in sick, both meaning to “call one’s employer to say they’re not coming in to work,” prompted a response from historian Judith Flanders, who notes that in the UK, there’s a...
In 1975, Annie Dillard won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-fiction for her book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (Amazon|Bookshop). A few years later, she wrote an essay in The New York Times with advice for writers and artists, calling on them to observe...
spitbite n.— «There were lines so skilfully crisscrossed by the artist and so perfectly printed that they looked 3-D, like actual black threads. I learned a new word, spitbite, a process of mixing ink with soap (originally spit, I gather)...
fake-up n.— «Female inmates at the Charlotte Jail aren’t allowed to bring in or wear makeup, so they improvise. They use things such as: Skittles candy, Crystal Light and instant coffee to look pretty. They call it “fake-up.”...
ink blot strategy n.— «In effect, the scheme is a version of the “ink blot” counterinsurgency strategy of grabbing a piece of terrain, stabilizing it and gradually expanding it.» —“Battle for Baghdad Boils Down to Grabbing a Slice at...