Awhile back, I was walking down East 30th Street — on a block that’s mostly imported-rug wholesalers and Korean barbecue — when someone opened a door, and whoosh! I was no longer in Manhattan. I was in Jamaica, surrounded by giant damp ferns, flowering blue mahoe trees, and lizards skittering along sandy stone walls.
Continue reading “Scent in Stories”
The Shadow Self
Note to writers: This letter contains spoilers of the film Fatal Attraction. Be forewarned!
Back when I was single, I accidentally scared off a few dates by mentioning that I sympathized with the character of Alex in the film Fatal Attraction.
Hear me out.
You may recall — Alex (played by Glenn Close) has a weekend fling with her married co-worker, Dan (Michael Douglas), and when Dan spurns her for his wife, Alex loses it. She tries to win Dan back (one appeal involves a suicide attempt), and when she realizes he’s gone for good, she destroys his car, kidnaps his daughter, and in the movie’s most iconic scene, boils the family’s pet bunny.
Continue reading “The Shadow Self”
A Title That Works
Awhile back, I was working with a student whose memoir encompassed the AIDS epidemic, being (illegally) deported from American Samoa, taking a midnight tour of Algiers, lecturing Madeleine Albright on the United Nations’ failures during the AIDS crisis (while Albright was the UN Ambassador), and explaining a suitcase full of female condoms to curious customs inspectors in Tehran.