In a narrow, windowless room at the University of Southern California, a group of graduate students is workshopping a short story. Its author is silent as her classmates deliver gentle feedback. Some suggest minor improvements of pacing, setting, and tone. One student would appreciate a more robust description of the protagonist’s emotions, but enjoys the sparseness, too. “I like this version,” another adds. “I don’t think I have much in the way of critique.”
While they speak, their professor, the novelist Percival Everett, sits quietly at the head of a too-large table, one palm steadied against it, his body swivelling almost imperceptibly from side to side. His head, decorated with errant coils of dark gray hair, is framed by a gargantuan television that hangs behind him, its screen a black expanse. He wears the uniform of a professional Everyman: slacks, button-down, glasses. He talks at a low volume, but the sounds he makes have the electric quality of speech being filtered through a mike.
“I think you guys must be a whole lot smarter than me,” he says, pushing his glasses to his forehead. “Because I’m just a dumb old cowboy, and I can’t figure out what’s going on.”
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 18, 2024 من The New Yorker.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 18, 2024 من The New Yorker.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
MEAN TIME
“Hard Truths.”
ENLIGHTEN ME
The secret beauty of mandalas.
THE BEST OF THEM
His was a genius for the ages. Will Gottfried Leibniz ever get his due?
DEATH CULT
Yukio Mishima’ tortured obsessions were his making—and his unmaking.
Prophecy
The night of Dev’s twenty-second birthday, he was invited to sit with the elders after dinner.
A TALE OF TWO DISTRICTS
Lauren Boebert and Colorado’s red-blue divide.
THE TIKTOK TRAIL
Andean migrants draw others to the U.S. with videos depicting themselves as living the American Dream.
LOVE AND THEFT
Did a best-selling romantasy novelist steal another writer's story?
OUR NEW TWO-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION SYSTEM
Our two-factor authentication system is expanding because text messages and e-mailed codes are becoming less secure. Also, we’re committed to making sure your log-in process is more of a hassle than it needs to be.
STILL PROCESSING
Why is the American diet so deadly?