I decided to take advantage of a spell of balmy weather to visit the Cloisters in uptown Manhattan. This museum of medieval art features several rooms that recreate period chapels and cloisters, embedding authentic architectural fragments in a neo-medieval building.... Continue reading

I admit that when a character called Charlotte Staples Lewis turned up on the ABC television series "Lost" last year, I was excited. The puzzle-like show is full of literary references, planted here and there, to give its most cultish... Continue reading

Yesterday I took Desmond and Nini to MOMA, where they seemed underwhelmed by everything except the promos for the Tim Burton exhibit (which was sold out). However, our journey uptown was not without event. Instead of the D train we... Continue reading

I recently reviewed a new memoir by the rock singer and poet Patti Smith, and found in it this passage about a surprising influence in her childhood: I drew comfort from my books. Oddly enough, it was Louisa May Alcott... Continue reading

I very much enjoyed doing an hour-long radio interview with Doug Fabrizio on the University of Utah's public radio station, KUER, on a show called Radio West. It was fantastic getting the chance to talk about Narnia in so much... Continue reading

An early Christmas treat came in the mail earlier this week, when I learned that the New Yorker selected The Magician's Book as one of it's favorite titles of 2009. (Technically, it was a 2008 book, but it came out... Continue reading

I haven't posted anything here in ages, mostly because I've been writing more for Salon, where I've been doing commentary about such subjects as the viability of collective storytelling via Twitter and vanity book awards. However, I just received a... Continue reading

I'm currently reading A.S. Byatt's new novel, The Children's Book. It's based on the life of E. Nesbit (not, as some have claimed -- presumably out of ignorance -- Beatrix Potter), who was one of the primary influences on C.S.... Continue reading

Readers of The Magician's Book may be interested to read this article, by my good friend Andrew O'Hehir, who is also the father of Desmond and Nini (Corinne). Andrew and his wife Leslie are homeschooling the twins, a project they... Continue reading

Every so often, I'm invited to speak to students about my work and someone asks what's the hardest part of my job. I'm not sure what answer they expect, but they always seem surprised when I say that it can... Continue reading

I'm currently sunk deep into A New Literary History of America, edited by Greil Marcus and Werner Sollors, a massive, fabulous collection of critical and historical essays keyed to important events in American culture. (I'll be reviewing it soon in... Continue reading

I haven't posted in weeks, mostly because I was away through much of August, staying in places without Internet access. That was both intentional and unnerving, since I've been thinking a lot lately about the effect that the constant stimulation... Continue reading

Fantasy & Science Fiction magazine has a long piece about The Magician's Book and two other titles -- Cheek by Jowl, an essay collection by Ursula K. Le Guin, and a new novel, The Magicians, by Lev Grossman, which comes... Continue reading