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something like technique, and also that it refers to cunning.  Which is to say that we writers handle materials that, when handled just so, lead to a sort of alchemy.  The most powerful pieces of writing, then, contain an infinite complexity—a complexity that’s tangible and undefinable at the same time.  And all of this is done in the writer’s solitude, which seems its own mixture of materiality and expansiveness. Even though I believe that a strong piece of writing generates something like magic, I

is to say that we writers handle materials that, when handled just so, lead to a sort of alchemy.  The most powerful pieces of writing, then, contain an infinite complexity—a complexity that’s tangible and undefinable at the same time.  And all of this is done in the writer’s solitude, which seems its own mixture of materiality and expansiveness. Even though I believe that a strong piece of writing generates something like magic, I also believe in tough-minded examinations of the thematic and