February 2009 in Open Letters!

It's a bright new morning on the first of February, and that means a new issue of Open Letters! As usual, we have a vital and varied feast prepared - subjects drawn from all the corners of creation, united only in the sterling quality of their prose. We have essays on how Melville and Liebling digress, how the Soviets bungled their invasion of Afghanistan, how 1930s London was overrun by Bright Young People, how various New Yorkers cope with living in the food capital of the world, how modern pundits can blame Alexander Hamilton for everything that bothers them, and how a Norwegian crime writer's mysteries can captivate the rest of the world. We have a tribute to Harold Pinter. We have Political Editor Greg Waldmann visiting his wrath upon the first history of the Obama presidential campaign. We have Fiction Editor Sam Sacks talking about Jayne Anne Phillips' new novel. We have me, nattering on about one thing or another (and contiuing my "Year with the Romans"). And to round things off, we have a poem by Paul Violi and a photo by frequent Stevereads commentator Jeff Eaton.

So calm down, control your elation, and click on over for the feast that is February 2009 in Open Letters!