Phantom limb syndrome has always been intertwined with war. It was first discovered by Silas Weir Mitchell after the Battle of Gettysburg, when the hospitals of Philadelphia were overwhelmed by soldiers with amputated limbs. Many of these soldiers said that they still felt their missing arms and legs, even though they were clearly gone. As…

One of my resolutions for the new year was spending less time googling myself. (Such are the vanities of an insecure writer.) So far, I’m off to a bad start. I apologize for the self-promotion, but there have recently been some very nice reviews of the book that I thought I’d share. Here’s an excerpt…

Lisa Diamond, a psychologist at the University of Utah, deserves credit for bringing a controversial idea to the academic surface. Here’s the Boston Globe Ideas section: In this country, we tell a certain story about homosexuality: We believe that people who come out as gay almost always stick with that gay identity for the rest…

If, like me, you’re sorely missing new episodes of The Office, then I’ve got the novel for you. It’s Joshua Ferris’ fantastic debut novel, and it’s a sad/funny tour of office life. (Keep in mind that I’ve never worked in an office, so I have no idea how authentic the novel really is. But it…