Equipment for Living
My big face is pleased to announce that I am working on a book of criticism, to be published by Simon & Schuster, tentatively titled Equipment for Living. (I stole the title from Kenneth Burke’s essay “Literature as Equipment for Living.”)
This amazing, restorative, soothing, angry, beta-blocking book will cannibalize some of my previously published literary & music criticism, & will also contain new stuff, essays about my education in poetry & popular music. And about my love of Taylor Swift.
And here is a picture of Perdita:

Finally managed to get Perdita in some author photos for this interview with the Chicago Reader (click photo)
Head over to the Poetry Foundation to read about my relationship with my cat. And look around while you’re there, there are some awesome poems.


