And every time I teach certain stories - I mean, for example, James Joyce's The Dead, which I talk about in the book as the perfect story to go to if, for example, you want to write a party scene, which party scenes are very difficult to write.

NPR: Could You Be the Great American Novelist?

She has the indispensable knack of being able to write a well-turned scene, and "The Great God Pan" is full of scenes that are so subtly drawn that you can almost overlook their failure to add up to a fully convincing whole.

WSJ: Persons of Interest | The Great God Pan | Our Town | Theater Review by Terry Teachout

This painful but moving scene provides a clue as to why Mr Browner felt compelled to write this book and why the art of hospitality has come to matter so much to him.

ECONOMIST: Hospitality