Inspired by Sara Levine’s “The Self on a Shelf”, I thought I’d take a closer look at John McPhee’s persona in “The Search for Marvin Gardens”. Upon closer inspection, McPhee’s persona does not “create the illusion of an intelligent, complex, … Continue reading →

We’ve seen this phenomenon already in Didion’s piece, this resistance of definition where the essay zooms in on its subject/question/object (the topic of the essay, let’s say), but pulls back before declaring anything. This week, we see the phenomenon again … Continue reading →