Articles written about mj moore

RETRO: The Four Faces of Daphne in The Schrodinger Girl

The year is only half over, but already 2020 has manifested a mythic, fractured, tormented, and utterly exhausting panorama. America is shattered by political divisions that reek of Civil War attitudes; there’s a worldwide pandemic still far from over; economic collapse has afflicted millions; and from Hollywood to Broadway,

RETRO: Meet the 4th Beatle

When he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a recipient of the Award for Musical Excellence in 2015, Ringo Starr was individually honored as a solo artist, just as the other three Beatles had been, years earlier. And yet, Ringo will always be most famous

1950s

RETRO: When Carol Met Mario (Excerpt)

(Note: This is an excerpt adapted from the author’s book MARIO PUZO ~ AN AMERICAN WRITER’S QUEST, forthcoming in 2019 from Heliotrope Books.) Between 1979 and 1999, there were two constants in author Mario Puzo’s life. First and foremost: No matter what else he wrote, no matter

1980s

RETRO: Twists of Fate: Blowin', Knockin', Tangled (Fiction)

For our readers’ pleasure, we present a RETRO short story of love, music, and mail. “Inspiration is hard to come by. You have to take it where you find it.” – Bob Dylan It started during the week of Thanksgiving 1983, precisely one year and three months

1980s

RETRO: Twists of Fate: Blowin', Knockin', Tangled (Fiction)

For our readers’ pleasure, we present a RETRO short story of love, music, and mail. “Inspiration is hard to come by. You have to take it where you find it.” – Bob Dylan It started during the week of Thanksgiving 1983, precisely one year and three months

1970s

RETRO: Middle School Awakenings ~~ August 1971

It’s before midnight and business is slow at the New Corsica Restaurant, so Kev’s off work early and he’s surprised we’re all up and sitting there, gathered around the tube. He works really hard as a busboy on weekend nights. I’m

1970s

RETRO: Middle School Awakenings ~~ August 1971

It’s before midnight and business is slow at the New Corsica Restaurant, so Kev’s off work early and he’s surprised we’re all up and sitting there, gathered around the tube. He works really hard as a busboy on weekend nights. I’m

books

RETRO: 100 Years Ago... 100 Years From Now

A century after Ernest Hemingway and John Dos Passos served in World War I, their messages linger in our memories and hearts. It’s been going on for as long as most of us have been alive. Even longer. The Hemingway Mystique is a publishing phenomenon every bit as real

books

RETRO: In the Mood! (Fiction/Excerpt)

Note: This excerpt from the author’s novel FOR PARIS ~ WITH LOVE & SQUALOR occurs in 1943. The female narrator is in the Women’s Army Corps (WACs).In a funny way, Glenn Miller was more hip in his Army Air Force uniform than he’d ever been in a

books

RETRO: A Guy Named Jim

FOR JULIA SCHOPICK “I caught the bus at midnight, aware that I was leaving for good,” a combat veteran named Jim said of his exit from Camp Campbell, Kentucky. It was 1944. He’d been reassigned there, despite injuries, to train with an infantry division that deployed later in the

books

RETRO: A Guy Named Jim

FOR JULIA SCHOPICK “I caught the bus at midnight, aware that I was leaving for good,” a combat veteran named Jim said of his exit from Camp Campbell, Kentucky.It was 1944. He’d been reassigned there, despite injuries, to train with an infantry division that deployed later in the

1960s

RETRO: McCarthy vs. Mailer in 1963

FOR MY MOTHER: MARY ANN MOORE (nee: FABISH) At the March on Washington in August 1963, author Norman Mailer ended up feeling bored and indifferent. So, he wandered off at day’s end. No joke. The postwar author, most often lionized as “a prophet” regarding America’s tumult in the

1960s

RETRO: McCarthy vs. Mailer in 1963

FOR MY MOTHER: MARY ANN MOORE (nee: FABISH) At the March on Washington in August 1963, author Norman Mailer ended up feeling bored and indifferent. So, he wandered off at day’s end. No joke. The postwar author, most often lionized as “a prophet” regarding America’s tumult in the

books

RETRO: Into That Darkness

*Editor’s Note: Warning – some of the below images contain sensitive material.* FOR DEBORAH “CLOVE” LILIENTHAL Mario Puzo’s first novel was published in 1955, ten years after World War Two ended. Still startling, still riveting, The Dark Arena evokes a scabrous, corrupt underworld of jaded

1950s

RETRO: Lowney Handy, James Jones, and Their Colony

In downstate Illinois throughout the 1950s, legendary novelist James Jones and his patron, mentor, and lover Lowney Handy formed a countercultural writers’ group, known locally as The Colony. Lowney was an older, married, childless woman, whose unconditional support of ex-G.I. Jones between 1944 and 1950 allowed him to write

1960s

RETRO: Tight Connection to My Heart

It was 1972. My cool uncle and his girlfriend allowed me to tag along when they saw the documentary film of ex-Beatle George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh.I was going on 13, and realized while enjoying the film of the Concert for Bangladesh that no matter how famous George

books

RETRO: December 7, 1941

“Pearl Harbor, when they passed it, was a shambles. Wheeler Field had been bad, but Pearl Harbor numbed the brain.” ~~~ James Jones, From Here to Eternity The centrality of Sunday, December 7, 1941, in the life of novelist James Jones cannot be overstated. Whether it was when he was

culture

RETRO: Thanksgiving 1970

Nobody else can host the whole tribe for such a dinner, so once again (and totally to my delight) it’s time to help Dad throughout another Thanksgiving gathering.

culture

RETRO: My Hours with Elie

On a crisp, cool late autumn night in 1990, Elie Wiesel sat on stage in an auditorium at Winona State University in Winona, Minnesota, delivering an hour-long lecture, followed by a question-and-answer session. I stared in disbelief.

1940s

RETRO: The Gallery at 70

FOR DAVID MARGOLICK In 1947, John Horne Burns (an Andover-born, Harvard-educated, Irish-Catholic ex-G.I.) published The Gallery, a uniquely structured wartime “novel” that’s actually a book of linked short stories and autobiographical ruminations. Unfortunately, after his Pulitzer Prize-nominated debut (he lost to James A. Michener’s Tales of the

1940s

RETRO: Surrealism 101: A Night in August 1944 (Fiction/Excerpt)

(This excerpt is from the author’s forthcoming novel For Paris ~ With Love and Squalor.) I’m not even sure if Papa knew all that much about her. At that time, I mean. Later on, everyone would know something about her. But Jerry and I were brought along by

Film

RETRO: Monty, Sinatra & Jones in Eternity

Novelist James Jones arrived with a blockbuster in 1951: From Here to Eternity smashed sales records from the get-go. Jones’ debut novel focused on several members of a U.S. Army infantry company stationed in Hawaii in the months leading up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor – a story