Benedict Cary has an intriguing essay on the science of stories–how we tell them, and what they say about us–in the New York Times. “Any life story is by definition a retrospective reconstruction, at least in part an outgrowth of native temperament.” (This interests me in part because of its thematic connection to The Year of Fog; the way we construct our own narratives is at the heart of the book, and I spent a lot of time researching just how we do that.) Thanks to David Lynn on the Kenyon Review blog for directing me to the essay.

Also: the new Beeswax Magazine is now out. Issue three of this funky, literate little journal contains some smart, funny poems by Hugh Steinberg, two weird and wonderfully surprising short-short stories by Mary Suddaby, and an illuminating essay about Jaffna by Shelana de Silva. Art by Michael Buchmiller. From Steinberg’s poem “Pensees,” (sorry, I’m missing the cool spaces that appear on the printed page, not to mention the accent mark in the title): Thinking is like
meeting your French teacher
in the parking lot of the grocery store,
and you insist on speaking in English with him
because what’s he going to do?