Benjamin Roesch

Category: Things You Should Be Reading

  • Post #122: Andrea Barrett

    A recent book that blew my mind was Andrea Barrett’s collection of stories called Servants of the Map. It was one of those books that, while reading, I could feel burrowing into my writer’s subconscious, re-arranging the wiring for what’s possible and what I want to be able to do…

  • Post #116: Billy Collins

    Billy Collins is probably the most famous living American poet whose name is not Maya Angelou. A pillar of American letters, he’s about as well regarded critically and popularly as it’s possible for a poet to be while still drawing breath, and living in a country that doesn’t much give…

  • Post #111: J to the D

    Pardon me while I majorly geek out for a second. But, holy crap, am I excited. It seemed like a foregone conclusion that eventually we’d get word of what the hell J.D. Salinger had been writing and putting in a safe all those years. I mean, of course there were…

  • Post #101: This is Hardly Worthy of a Post, But…

    I couldn’t resist sharing this recent article from The Onion about the secret to being a writer. “Written” by Joyce Carol Oates, it’s entitled, “If You Wish to be a Writer, Have Sex With Someone Who Works in Publishing.” The Onion is a national treasure that packs just about more…

  • Post #100: Steinbeck Saw All

    I’m reading Steinbeck’s East of Eden for the first time. It’s really great, by the way. And though he’s not normally a writer, like, say, Ray Bradbury, that makes you think he had the power to predict the future, or whose writing was even meant to evoke or imagine the…

  • Post #99: Being Dad

    I have an essay in the new issue of Kid’s Vermont, a monthly foray into the world of what to do with your kid if you’re a Vermont parent. For their Dad Issue, they asked me to contribute to their “Use Your Words” feature, a monthly personal essay, on a…

  • Post #97: Who Has Time for Stars?

    I have a new short story that’s part of the May/June issue of Fogged Clarity. FC is great and I’m thrilled to be included. They publish fiction, poetry, reviews, and music! I’m listening to “Mountain Sounds,” the album in the new issue, right now and it’s fantastic. I want to…

  • Post #96: I Notice You, Tom

    Few books live in my nervous system the way The Great Gatsby does. Having loved and taught the book for many years, it occupies a hallowed space, an untouchable cloud of perfection in my soul. Though I re-read it every year, along with my students, it’s the only book I…

  • Post #88: The Next Big Thing

    The Next Big Thing is a self-interview project where writers with projects in the works or books coming out answer ten questions about what they’re working on, then tag other writers. I’m thrilled to be participating. Many hugs and hurrahs to my dear friend, and fellow Bread Loaf alum, Kara…

  • Post #86: Kindling Quarterly

    As a father of two young boys (4 1/2 year old Felix and 2 1/2 year old Leo) I pay a lot more attention than I used to to how fathers are portrayed in our culture. And, for the most part, at least from where I’m sitting, the portrayals suck…