Certain things about the city never change. Radios blared and exhaust filled the air. In the car on the way to the hotel, we were stuck in traffic. I knew I wouldn’t be chic enough or thin enough. I was going to give a few readings, meet my new agent, whom I somehow managed to sign with without stepping foot in New York, and hang out with friends.
Recently, after years of avoiding New York City-or, more accurately, not being able to afford it-I traveled there from the small, middle-of-nowhere Midwestern town where I teach writing.
