“Young Spice” Over the holidays, I was at my sister’s place. The youngest generation was racingabout the house, screaming “not … More

My wife Cynthia occasionally interviews our kids, jotting down their answers inlittle journals. The questions are always like, What was … More

Americans may be having fewer children, but we make a fetish of the ones we have. This is obvious to … More

One Man’s Trash It was Big Trash Day in my neighborhood. Notices had gone out that the city’s garbage trucks … More

The phrase “unaccompanied minor” conjures a very specific fantasy for parents of little children, one that has been shaped by … More

A review of Matt Feeney’s Little Platoons in American Purpose, which is now part of Persuasion, in which I describe … More

What is it like to have no gift, no gag, no game at all, when your twentieth anniversary comes up … More

A while back, I spent an incredible day with Judith Dupre, author of an excellent large-scale book about One World … More

Was impressed by this lexicographical memoir by former OED editor John Simpson. I have read enough writing by lexicographers to … More

I have been reading McCarry’s latest, The Mulberry Bush, which made me think I should post my 2009 profile of … More