Pulitzer winner Annie Dillard’s second novel, The Maytrees, came out in early June. She’s written over ten other books, but she says The Maytrees, her first book in eight years, will probably be her last. “I’m tired,” declared the 62-year-old Dillard, who says that she won’t be doing any more touring, public readings, blurb writing, or letter answering. “I worked so hard all my life, and all I want to do now is read. I’m glad to go out on this book,” she says. (The Maytrees tells the story of two married artists in Provincetown, Massachusetts, after World War II.) She did mention one, possibly tongue-in-cheek idea for further work: “To take all my never-used metaphors and just throw them up in the air for other writers to use.” Grab Bag, by Annie Dillard? “I like the title Free-for-All,” she says.
Legendary Writer Retires: Dillard’s Done
Unused metaphors for sale?
Have good intel? Send tips to intel@nymag.com.
Advertising
Most Popular Stories
Most Commented
Last 24 Hours
- ‘Barack Osama’ on Hundreds of Upstate Absentee Ballots
- Sarah Silverman Defends Her ‘Great Schlep’
- The Russell Crowe Gimmick: A History
- Meet the Adviser Stabbing at McCain’s Self-destruct Button
- Guy From ‘Twilight’ Selects Perfectly Reasonable Fallback Career
- Young Black Republican Kind of Maybe Prefers Obama, Now That You Mention It
- Sarah Palin's New Tote Bag: ‘Real Women Hunt Moose’
- Does America Care About William Ayers?
- The Self-Obsessed, Emotionally Detached Hedge-Funder
- What Tina Fey Would Do for a SoyJoy
Most Viewed
Last 24 Hours
- Tina Fey, ‘W.,’ and the Ten Funniest Political Impressions of All Time
- Lindsay Lohan as Marilyn Monroe in "The Last Sitting"
- Sarah Silverman Defends Her ‘Great Schlep’
- Week in Review: People Who Should Be Shot
- New York Bars and NYC Nightlife -- New York Magazine
- The 72-Room Bohemian Dream House
- Why Wall Street Will Prevail
- The Fug Girls: In These Trying Times, Where Is Our Celebrity Gossip?
- Inside a Recession-proof Gramercy Park Mansion
- Sarah Palin to Meet Don Draper on ‘SNL’
Most Emailed
Last 24 Hours
- Trader Joe’s Invades the Land of Zabar’s
- Michael Idov and Matt Taibbi on Obama’s Foregone Historic Win, and the Morass It Will Land In
- ‘Barack Osama’ on Hundreds of Upstate Absentee Ballots
- Tina Fey, ‘W.,’ and the Ten Funniest Political Impressions of All Time
- Why Wall Street Will Prevail
- The 72-Room Bohemian Dream House
- Meet the Adviser Stabbing at McCain’s Self-destruct Button
- The CW Finally Spins Off ‘America’s Next Top Model’
- How McCain Lost His Brand
- We Have Spencer Pratt’s Phone Number
Email
Print
The Trouble With Product Integration
Meet the Matisse of Subway-Ad Mash-ups
Equus Is Ready for the Glue Factory
The Coolest Hand: Paul Newman, 1925–2008
Look Book: The Gallery Owner 
Playing Hardball After Signing the Lease
Pork-Focused Street Food Done to a Tuscan Turn
Clam Pies on the Rise
Can Paterson Navigate the Troubled Economy?

Will Sulzberger's Heirs Sell the 'Times'?
How McCain Lost His Public Image
What Wall Street Will Look Like in Fall 2009