Citizenship | Literature
Select novels, short stories, and nonfiction on contemporary life.
Ben East’s nonfiction debut recounts how JFK’s bold experiment shaped diplomatic careers and influenced modern American diplomacy.
Read, Listen, Watch
-
Preston Langley. Review tomorrow.
-
While the Pols and Poobahs dress in UNGA-wear and head for New York, the Peace Corps Community runs amok in the Nation’s Capitol. Join Peace Corps Writers tomorrow at a workshop for writers in the DC area. The event, part of the annual Peace Corps Connect gathering (celebrating 55 years this year), will take place at the George Washington…
-
Today’s the day 20 years ago that two score optimistic & good-willed Americans gathered at the 4-H Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland, to begin the most excellent adventure I know, a blend of humanitarian endeavor, mutual group support, and self-reliance in the face of a great unknown. We were to spend the next 27 months as Peace Corps Volunteers in…
-
Amazon asked me if my novel, Two Pumps for the Body Man, met my expectations. “Well, the author’s no Graham Greene,” I say. “Please send me some of that.” Why should I (or anyone) read a story about a foot-fetishist diplomat doing time in Saudi Arabia when I (or anyone) could be reading about a vacuum cleaner salesman making bank in Cuba? But then…
-
Ever since we moved in three years ago, visitors to our home have announced their arrival with a sick-sounding doorbell. Ding–Dunk, it sadly played. My reaction mirrored this dreary tune. Oh dear, who’s come to see us now? When the button finally gave way—a crack became a hole became an entirely broken piece of plastic more likely to…
-
I never thought I’d say this: Sarah Palin is right. “What would you do, if elected president, about Aleppo,” can only be described as Gotcha Journalism. The question is particularly egregious in a conversation like the one between Gary Johnson and Mike Barnicle on MSNBC. The two were talking about domestic politics, the role of…
-
Just like Preston Lang to put out his next neo-noir surprise without telling anyone. Two months later: Surprise! Dark, humorous matter available. Review coming soon. Everyone knows that cigarettes will kill you. Mark works the overnight in a grimy deli in the Bronx, selling gray market smokes and bad meat. His hotheaded manager Janet pushes him…
-
I was driving the boys to a wishing well Sunday morning when good fortune came my way: NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me was airing Not My Job. Talented people were supposed to do something without drawing on their talent. The talent in this case was Bill Oakley, who turned a Foreign Service exam cop…
-
These independent writers are Making Books Great Again: screamingskullpress.com roguepress.net joylesshousepublishing.com paperandinkzine.co.uk vidlit.com Who else do you support by reading, reviewing, and sharing?
Ben East Books 