Ross MacDonald
Ross MacDonald is a contributing editor of VQR. He is the author of three children’s books: Bad Baby; Another Perfect Day; and Achoo, Bang, Crash: The Noisy Alphabet, each named a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year.
Also By This Author
A recent issue of Poets & Writers features the married writing couple Victor LaValle and Emily Raboteau. “Books and Babies,” the magazine says on the cover. How do writers balance it all? The article focuses on six writers: Raboteau, LaValle, Christa Parravani, Anthony Swofford, Fiona Gardner, and Uche Nduka. While each of these writers offer [...]
Which of the following constitute objective, literary criticism? Which constitute literary marketing? And which are neither of the above? • A bookseller writes a book review for a major national newspaper • A book reviewer accepts money from a publisher to promote a specific title after reviewing the book • A book blogger accepts a [...]
The following post is part of our online companion to our Spring 2013 issue on The Business of Literature. Click here for an overview of the issue. —— Imagine my displeasure when I found myself, last November, hung-over and haggard, pushing a stroller through the security cordon at the Beirut airport. It was eight in the morning, [...]
The following post is part of our online companion to our Spring 2013 issue on The Business of Literature. Click here for an overview of the issue. —— Some people move to New York to realize their literary dreams, but I had to leave. Born and raised in Manhattan, in 1988 I moved to Pittsburgh, a place [...]
On June 3, 2013, at the University of Virginia, VQR is hosting a public reading by American Book Award-winning poet Dana Gioia. A noted critic and anthologist, he is also the former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. His books include Pity the Beautiful, Interrogations at Noon, and Can Poetry Matter? Gioia will [...]
The following post is part of our online companion to our Spring 2013 issue on The Business of Literature. Click here for an overview of the issue. —— When I needed an article from the February 1963 issue of the defunct travel magazine Holiday, I never questioned where to search for it. I picked up the phone [...]
The following post is part of our online companion to our Spring 2013 issue on The Business of Literature. Click here for an overview of the issue. —— “There are moments, and it is only a matter of five or six seconds, when you feel the presence of the eternal harmony … a terrible thing is the [...]
“The law in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.” —Anatole France “Those who have put out the people’s eyes, reproach them of their blindness.” —John Milton The majority of celebratory days in America are devoid of substance, [...]


