Encyclopedia of Trouble and Spaciousness

In the very beginning of our phone interview I ask Rebecca Solnit, the originator of the term “mansplaining,” how you pronounce “elegiac.” “Is it ah-LEE-GEE-ack?” I ask. “I think it’s eh-leh-GIE-eck,” she says, adding, “you must learn some words from books rather than from people.” She says this with such kindness that I feel guardedly […]