Issue 58. November 2015
Finding Forgiveness in a Ziploc Bag
downloadTravel is supposed to be so broadening, in the words of Sinclair Lewis. But anyone embarking on a Thanksgiving-motivated journey knows that travel can be aggravating, maddening, and bewildering too. In an essay first audio-published in The Drum in July 2013, Jane Hamilton recounts a trip with her husband when the combined forces of the TSA and a Ziploc bag threatened to undo them. (11:04)
Who's Walking Who
downloadThere are those who prepare for Thanksgiving weeks in advance. And there are those, like Steve Macone, who do their shopping the day before this major American holiday. His essay "Who's Walking Who," first audio-published in our October 2011 issue, finds Macone at the Somerville, Massachusetts Market Basket on Thanksgiving Wednesday. Hilarity--and insight--ensue. (1:17)
Appetites
downloadSerotonin notwithstanding, Thanksgiving makes us hungry. Despite the torpor of the holiday, we become agitated, restless. Maria Mutch's "Appetites" immerses us in the restless and agitated world of a journey like so many on Thanksgiving: a trip to grandmother's house. In this short story first audio-published in The Drum in May 2014, Mutch revises the old tale, skewing fairy-tale familiarity with modern distortions. (12:37)
Spice Memory
downloadWhether you have your Thanksgiving in a restaurant or at an extended family table, for better or for worse, you can't escape the food. Thanksgiving is our most Proustian holiday, when scents of one relative's marshmallowed yams or another's oregano-dressed potatoes will evoke memories of times, places, and people, absent or near. Eson Kim's "Spice Memory," published in The Drum this past July, ponders Kim's connection to her mother through her mother's recipes, and her efforts to sustain that sometimes fragile bond through cooking. (5:57)
