“Mother Doll” isn’t a ghost story but a meticulously layered tale of fabulist historical fiction where the details of the Russian Revolution are related with the same depth of detail as a trip to Disneyland. That said, Apekina hopes her novel isn’t branded as “supernatural.”
“I think it would be a little misleading. I don’t think it feels like a ghost story. It just happens to have a ghost in it.”
In my three brief years solving the Daily Times crossword, I’ve noticed a veritable shift toward more timely and wide-ranging clues, as well as more diversity among constructors, especially in age and gender. Of course, blind spots remain: I still cringe every time I see a clue such as “12 meses” and have to enter ANO—a Spanish word that, without the necessary tilde, means “anus.” But above all, with this change under way, I’ve noticed that the puzzles have gotten more fun—drawing on more varied topics, spotlighting icons and ideas that have long gone overlooked, pushing the boundaries of the English language in exciting new directions. Taking the crossword seriously results in a better puzzle—one that challenges and teaches, surprises and delights, day after day.
You hear these people sometimes when you watch the Oscars on TV. They are whooping because they are proud. But they are also whooping because, on some level, they want to remind the world about the mezzanines. They exist, too.
It is weird what gets you excited at the normal people Oscars. Obviously, there were no famous people on my mezzanine. But when Cillian Murphy won best actor and namechecked his children, a burble of excitement broke out in my row. There wasn’t a hope in hell that we would get close to Murphy himself, but his kids? Good enough.
ChatGPT and Bard can generate functional recipes. I know that because I followed them. But I knew, as the person who baked those cakes, that it was dispassionate and generic. My editor, Adi Robertson, compared one to a boxed cake mix, and another reminded me of sad cafeteria cakes. Sure, it hits the spot. Yes, it’s chocolate cake. But cakes can be so much more.
“Feeding Ghosts” is courageously and heartbreakingly bare, and Hulls’ attempt to present it all in a subjective manner only heightens the memoir’s emotional impact. Her words narrate the story while the art carries the weight of the emotions. And the author pauses more than once to remind the reader that a memoir is curated, and therefore only a slice of the truth. At the same time, hers is deeply grounded in historical fact. Pointing out when she takes artistic license only strengthens the story’s trustworthiness.