Stuff I’ve written

I’ve written essays and criticism, print and web features, and reported pieces, mostly about books (nearsighted bookworm), science (geology degree), and nerd stuff (raging nerd). For the determined Internet stalker, find a more comprehensive list of articles here.

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Book Criticism

Chinatown by Thuận, Astra Magazine

Nine Books Overshadowed By the Pandemic, The Atlantic

Vagabonds! by Eloghosa Osunde, The New York Times Book Review

The Every by Dave Eggers, The New York Times Book Review

Four debut novels, The New York Times Book Review

Three short story collections, The New York Times Book Review

Having and Being Had by Eula Biss, Guernica

Stories of the Sahara by Sanmao, trans. Mike Fu, Bookforum

Dead Astronauts by Jeff VanderMeer, The New York Times Book Review

Three Dystopian Novels, The New York Times Book Review

How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell, The Believer

Rising by Elizabeth Rush, Bay Nature

The 2019 Tournament of Books: Milkman vs. The Italian Teacher

Adele by Leila Slimani, San Francisco Chronicle

Eager by Ben Goldfarb, Bay Nature

All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung, The Rumpus

Timefulness by Marcia Bjornerud, Bay Nature

There There by Tommy Orange, San Francisco Chronicle

Anatomy of a Miracle by Jonathan Miles, Los Angeles Review of Books

Eternal Life by Dara Horn and How to Stop Time by Matt Haig, Los Angeles Review of Books

Sourdough by Robin Sloan, San Francisco Chronicle

I contribute unsigned reviews to Kirkus and The New Yorker’s Briefly Noted column.

Essays

“Can This Two-Week Program Make You a Better Reader—And Do You Want It To?,” Electric Literature

“Why I Hide from Writerly Dread in the Pages of Self-Help,” Literary Hub

“‘Circe’ Shows Us How Storytelling Is Power—And How That Power Can Be Seized,” Electric Literature

“Looking Up,” University of Chicago Magazine. An essay in which I wax sentimental about the summer I spent hunting gargoyles at my alma mater.

The New York Times for Kids

I contribute frequently to the New York Times for Kids, a print section in the New York Times on the last Sunday of every month.

  • For the July 2021 issue, I catalogued 12 different types of clouds, from cirrus to cumulonimbus to contrails.
  • Cats vs. Dogs: For this very special March 2020 themed issue, I charted out how dogs and cats, over thousands of years, have transformed from feral animals to our adorable best friends.
  • “The Body Issue”: The December 2019 section included a four-page, nearly life-sized spread dedicated to how kids’ bodies work, annotated by me and Nick St. Fleur.
  • For the October 2019 section (Halloween-themed!), I wrote a story cataloging more than 40 phobias, both strange and common.
  • For the November 2017 kids section, I wrote a cover-story explainer of how CRISPR works, complete with a prediction matrix and a how-to guide.

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