F. Scott’s last creation is a warning to the picket line — “Most writers,” the writer F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote, “look like writers whether they want to or not. It is hard to say why.” I thought about this recently as the writers of the Writers Guild of America announced they would go on strike against their studio overlords for the…

My search for an acre of escape — It was the rock that caught my eye. Dappled with lichen and lighted by the afternoon sun, it appeared to be the perfect place for contemplation. A spot where you could sit and write your novel, ponder your place in the universe, and perhaps reach some kind of equilibrium with…

I mean this is just like, my opinion, man — On reviewing The Big Lebowski for the 47,162nd time, I wanted to interrogate the film with the particular lens of the sport of bowling. Some other observations about the film will also be addressed in this discourse but it’s really down the lanes that I want to roll some key…

When peace was given a chance — The Frenchman was, at last, smiling. He was just ahead of me in the security line to enter the headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Gaza. It was the winter of 1994. The Oslo Accords had recently been signed. Tentative peace had broken out. Patrice Barrat, whose father Robert…

A survey of chefs, waitstaff, managers, and, yes, diners too — What makes you want to walk out of a restaurant? What makes you want to throw a patron out of your dining establishment? On either side of the eating-out equation there are cringe-inducing phrases and behaviors that lately have been coming to mind. Any phrase which includes “do” when ordering…

Outlaw Ocean founder and New Yorker reporter Ian Urbina discusses illegal fishing, sea slavery, and how unethical seafood ends up on your plate. — Ian Urbina has been covering what might be the most mysterious and dangerous place in the world for nearly a decade now. I’m speaking of that vast swath of ocean that lies in between the territorial control of individual nations. These distant waters, usually referred to as “The High Seas”…

And other expressions to avoid while dining out — The plague that almost killed American restaurants is officially over. But am I the only one to have noticed that a different kind of infection took hold in our cafés and bistros during the long emergency? This new plague-let comes most recognizably in the form of a particular type of…

Thick-skinned and Vesuvius-cured, this modest tomato is southern Italy’s secret gem — In the Italian province of Campania, Mount Vesuvius keeps quiet vigil over its tomatoes. Small-hold plots wend their way along the volcano’s southern slope, and most of those plots are planted with Italy’s most famous tomato — the “San Marzano” of red sauce fame. But a very few hectares are…

Lakes’ Lessons for Life — When autumn’s first chill arrives, the first word that comes to my mind is “Turnover.” It’s a word used by fishermen and lake scientists. A word that represents opportunity and confusion. A phenomenon that makes both trophy hunting and deep study possible. A condition when things that seemed in equilibrium…