What we've been up to

New Web Feature: Every ambitious writer desires more than simply to be published. So it was with James Conaway when his first novel, which was about crime and race in New Orleans, was being considered by the publisher Houghton Mifflin. As he writes in "Published!", such ambitions were set on things beyond a contract—to high-profile book reviews, sales figures, and elusive literary success.

"The letter, dated May 5, 1969, was from Houghton Mifflin, in response to an early and incomplete draft of the novel I had recently submitted:

I was tougher on you than anybody. The novel has since been praised for its 'exceptional ability to evoke a sense of place,' and the writer has been called 'a natural.' So I will more or less shut up.

Anyway, there is interest in the book here. The doubts seem to rest on where it is headed—not on Comiski's character.… The next thing is to send some new chapters. I'm sorry this is not coming with an offer of money to make that idea more appealing. So if you'd rather try it someplace else I will return this section. But I hope you'll send in some more.

Yours,

Richard Todd

"It was the sort of letter all aspiring writers hope for, typed on tissue-thin paper bearing the logo of a good house at the top and an editor's scrawled signature at the bottom. I was overjoyed, even if uncompensated."

Our summer issue is coming soon. The theme is "Theological Variations," and it includes contributions from Alan Jacobs, John Milbank, Charlie Riggs, and Antón Barba-Kay—as well as other essays from Matt Crawford, Rita Koganzon, Talbot Brewer, Jonathan Malesic, Martha Bayles and many, many others.

Look for the summer issue next month—and subscribe and please tell your friends.

While you wait, remember that the spring issue is available for free at our website—but only for a few more weeks.

Recommended Reading

From the archives: Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, a professor of public policy at the University of Southern California, has just published The Overlooked Americans: The Resilience of Our Rural Towns and What It Means for Our Country. Currid-Halkett makes the case that both the well-being of small towns and the cultural differences between urban and rural life have been misunderstood. In "The Endless Pursuit of Better," for the summer 2021 issue, she used her research to show how our cultural conflicts have become more entrenched because of this misunderstanding.

"What is clear is that the great divisions in our country rest on our different systems of cultural capital, including the language with which we communicate those systems. That our aspirational class embeds morality in its choices—culturally specific choices dependent on certain entrenched privileges and the habitus that comes with and reinforces such privileges—means that most Americans who opt out of the aspirationals' game may actively seek alternatives to being patronized."