His entry begins:
I try to imagine that I am a delicate balance that can be upset. That's hard to do, because it requires self-deception, but the result is that I try always to read two different things at the same time: maybe poetry and history at the same time, or well-wrought domestic fiction and something wildly experimental. I figure this way I'll lay tracks in two directions rather than just one. This past week I've been reading Robert Alter's Book of Psalms, because I think those are spiritual songs I feel I should understand better, and then along with them the new Walter Mosley, because...[read on]About The Slippage, from the publisher:
William and Louisa Day are a suburban husband and wife, with no children, confronting the question of what their relationship meansLearn more about the book and author at Ben Greenman's website.to them and if and how it will survive. One day, after weeks of bizarre behavior—disappearing in the middle of parties, hoarding mail—Louisa approaches William with a stark request: "I want you to build us a house." Caught off guard, William is suddenly forced to reckon with his own hopes and desires, his growing discomfort at home and work, and, in the end, his wife's fight-or-flight ultimatum. The result is an emotionally powerful novel, marked by Ben Greenman's trademark blend of yearning and mordant wit.
Greenman is an editor at The New Yorker and the author of several other acclaimed books of fiction, including Superbad, Superworse, and A Circle is a Balloon and Compass Both: Stories About Human Love.
The Page 99 Test: A Circle Is a Balloon and Compass Both.
Writers Read: Ben Greenman.
--Marshal Zeringue
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