Julia Sneden
Julia Sneden is a writer, friend, wife, mother, Grandmother, care-giver and Senior Women Web's Resident Observer. Her career has included editorial work for Sunset Magazine, 20th Century Fox and Universal Studios as well as teaching. Julia is a passionate opponent of this country’s educational system, which she feels is floundering. She lives in North Carolina. jbsneden can be reached by email (at) triad.rr.com
Julia Sneden's archive of articles.
Goosed
They began by arguing the merits (or rather, the lack of merits) of sweet side dishes that had marzipan in them. “That was a lot of WORK,” my sous-chef growled. “Eat it and shut up.”“This rice is hard and funny,” said another son, “and the chestnuts look like little brains.” “I made it exactly the way the recipe said to,” said his brother.“Eeeew!” said the third as he poked at the slaw. I looked down the table in an effort to enlist their father’s support in quashing the rebellion. John was sitting hunched over, eyelids at half mast, face quite green. He hadn’t touched his food. more »
December 2009 CultureWatch
Abigail & John: Portrait of a Marriage is important because it helps to regender early American history which remains overly focused on generals and male political leaders. Lori Hahnel’s collection of short fiction, Nothing Sacred, is spare, subtle and literary but not pretentious in any way, and very pleasing. Now in paperback, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Olive Kitteridge, give the reader a deep sense of the connectedness of the small town and its inhabitants, and of Olive’s place in the scheme of things. more »
Pursuit of the Perfect Purse
Of course it would also be nice if it came with some sort of niche for a small flashlight, because I am forever squinting down into lint-filled depths, looking for little items that have a way of hiding themselves. It would also need to be sturdy, because I have a bad habit of hastily flinging my purse into the backseat or onto the closet shelf, and have even been known to swing it angrily against the wall when the key to my front door jams and sticks in the lock yet again. more »
CultureWatch
Those of us who became fans of Lorrie Moore’s when we first read her short stories in The New Yorker will welcome the publication of her new novel, the first in over a dozen years. Ms. Moore, who couples her career as novelist/short story writer extraordinaire with a professorship at the University of Wisconsin/Madison, may take her own sweet time between novels, but what she has produced is worth our wait. more »
