Foglia, who grew up on a farm in New York, began his project in Star Valley, Wyoming, where, he told me, "the community felt small and the land felt bigger, harsher, and more remote than anything I had experienced".
Years ago a friend told me, "you'll write a good book about Orkney" and I thought that was extremely unlikely, but Doris Lessing said that "every writer has a myth country" and I've learned, although I resisted, that rather than city nightlife, it's this land of big cliffs, harsh winds and strong seas that is mine.
The cogency of and rip-tide beneath both books lies in the notion of the other, the lost, in a cruel world, finding their own – and their place in something bigger than harsh society.
The writings of Roland Barthes are tossed around in a hilarious exchange between a high-brow journalist, a gossip reporter and Riggan, a Susan Sontag quote sits on his dressing room mirror and the biggest and harshest critic in the realm of art is represented by Riggan himself.
The big cities received harsh treatment in the local government financial settlement, and this has been repaid by the electorate".
It is a place of big dreams and harsh realities, astounding landscape, curious politics (including a long-standing independence party), midnight summer sun, and shockingly brief winter days.
Shanghai Park 239 Raritan Avenue (Route 27), Highland Park; (732)247-8813 GOOD ATMOSPHERE -- Big and busy, with harsh lighting and hurried décor.
Robeson appears in a famous sequence from the 1936 film "Show Boat," in which he had a small part with a big song about the harsh life of black Southern dockworkers.
The big bankruptcy threw a harsh spotlight on other resorts and theme parks, many of them built or planned during the go-go years of the 1980's and now also facing financial difficulty.
Swansea's first flirtation with the big time was a harsh lesson from one of the powerhouses of early 20th century football in England.
