Mall as Muse? Why Not

The Mall of America is taking applications for a summer writing residency, which makes now a good time to question whether our collective taste for absurd mash-ups has gone too far. Is this an attempt to out-quirk the Amtrak residency, where writers typed on trains? What’s next — a sculptors’ retreat in a Chevron station? A poetry workshop at Ikea?

Maybe, but think about it: The people-watching alone would make easy fodder. Look — there goes a man in a plaid shirt, walking past Foot Locker into Sephora. He emerges with a small bag. The story practically writes itself. (Read the rest here, or if you haven’t recycled it yet, in yesterday’s Sunday Review section of The New York Times.)

 

“Observe people in the act of searching — whether they get what they search for or not — and you will understand something about them. And understanding is as good a place as any to start, whether you’re writing a story or just living one.”