Monthly Archives: May 2015

Clothes really do make the man

Posted on May 31, 2015 by chrisbohjalian

The week before last I was in Manhattan and emerged alone on a Friday night from the subway station in Union Square. It was a little before eight. Instantly three young men surrounded me in desperate need of help: They … Continue reading →

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Thank you, Grace Experience, for living up to your name

Posted on May 24, 2015 by chrisbohjalian

The first time my daughter, Grace Experience, appeared in this column, she was in utero: it was Mother’s Day, 1993. How long ago was 1993? Most of us weren’t sending email. (Most of us didn’t know what email was.) Bill … Continue reading →

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Conceiving the narrator of “Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands”

Posted on May 22, 2015 by chrisbohjalian

Some years ago – back in the Mesozoic era, if I’m not going to be coy—a review of my novel Midwives ended with the critic complimenting me on the candor and honesty with which I described what it must have … Continue reading →

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A vegetable garden? Food for the soul.

Posted on May 20, 2015 by chrisbohjalian

Why garden? Note the verb. In your mind’s eye, conjure a backyard vegetable plot. Imagine activity and effort. Visualize stooping. Lifting. Tilling. Seeding. Planting. Watering. Weeding. Thinning. (I abhor thinning. I haven’t the heart to rip from the soil the … Continue reading →

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“Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands:” The inspiration behind the novel.

Posted on May 17, 2015 by chrisbohjalian

It’s one of those classic, absolutely reasonable questions—that is, alas, as impossible to answer briefly as the meaning of life. But I am asked it often. All novelists are. Where do your ideas come from? The glib answer—always offered with … Continue reading →

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The great moms endure Barney and “Gettysburg”

Posted on May 10, 2015 by chrisbohjalian

In November 1993, not quite a week before my wife’s and my daughter was born, my wife made a sacrifice of epic proportions: she went with me to see the four-hour movie, “Gettysburg,” on a Friday night date. Our baby … Continue reading →

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Let’s learn from these bike tragedies

Posted on May 3, 2015 by chrisbohjalian

My wife confessed something to me this week: whenever I leave on a bike ride, whether it’s a brief 15-mile jaunt or a journey that will last 30 to 50 miles, she says a little prayer. She prays that I … Continue reading →

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