Essays & Criticism
Tell It to Me Like I’m Two [THIS WRITING LIFE, Mar. 2026]
On what my toddler taught me about writing prose.
Jessica Gross on Writing a New York Novel as an Ex-New Yorker [LIT HUB, Aug. 2025]
A craft essay about how to get back in a New York state of mind.
How My Book Came to Be #4: Jessica Gross [MEMOIR LAND, Aug. 2025]
On writing my second novel, Open Wide, about a woman with mommy issues who takes drastic measures to become one with her boyfriend.
The Curious Urge to Merge [SLATE, Aug. 2025]
I wrote a novel about someone so obsessed with her boyfriend that she actually climbs inside his body. Then, someone started living inside me.
Jewish & Feminist in Lubbock, Texas [LILITH, Aug. 2023]
Paradoxically, I feel the most Jewish in Lubbock I’ve felt since my childhood on Long Island.
Sisterhood, Pills and Trauma [LILITH, July 2023]
A review of Ruth Madievsky’s debut novel, All-Night Pharmacy.
My Aquaphor Addiction [SLATE, Mar. 2021]
Why I can’t go without the goopy “healing ointment.”
A Brief (But Not Too) History of Literary Constipation [LIT HUB, Sept. 2020]
Some pandemic-appropriate reading.
In Defense of Psychoanalysis and Writing Freudian Fiction [LIT HUB, Aug. 2020]
On writing a novel that features Freud.
What Phone Calls Have Given Me That Video Chat Can’t [NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, May 2020]
A love letter to the telephone.
Finding Comfort in Small Spaces [LONGREADS, Sept. 2018]
On my preference for certain types of confinement.
In ‘The Italian Teacher,’ Art Is Sex [CHICAGO REVIEW OF BOOKS, Mar. 2018]
A review of Tom Rachman's third novel.
The Breakfast Scene in 'Master of None' Gets Romance Right [EXTRA CRISPY, Aug. 2016]
Breakfast is the most romantic meal.
This New Era [LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS, July 2016]
A review of Virginia Heffernan's Magic and Loss.
Give Every Adult a Plus-One at Your Wedding [NEW YORK MAGAZINE'S THE CUT, Apr. 2016]
In the name of empathy, compassion, and current social norms.
In Defense of “Indulgent” Art [FLAVORWIRE, May 2015]
Treat yourself.
Finding a Haven for Taboo Fantasies in Erotica [HYPERALLERGIC, May 2015]
Fantasies aren't dangerous, they're vital -- and they need a home.
Vermont [VOL. 1 BROOKLYN, Jan. 2015]
On trying to be the kind of person who likes traveling alone.
The Interrogation Room [LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS BLOG, Jan. 2015]
Does the interviewer matter?
Looking Out, Looking In [LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS, Dec. 2014]
What drives an obsession with artistic process?
The Art of the Essay [LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS, Oct. 2014]
Thoughts on Icon and what makes a personal essay succeed.
Unsuited to Age Group [LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS, Sept. 2014]
Thoughts on censorship.
The Loneliness of "Madeline" [BROOKLYN MAGAZINE, Sept. 2014]
On loneliness, childhood, and Ludwig Bemelmans' "Madeline."
The Problem with Perfection [LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS, Mar. 2014]
A review of "The Death Class."
Becoming Human: On Spike Jonze’s "Her" [LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS, Mar. 2014]
The film is less about technology, and more about how hard it is to be a fully feeling person.
Writing the Lake Shore Limited [THE PARIS REVIEW DAILY, Feb. 2014]
Trains as writers' garrets.
A Micro-Apartment of One’s Own [HYPERALLERGIC, July 2013]
NYC's housing regulations aren't suited to its demographics.
Live on Air [THE PARIS REVIEW DAILY, May 2012]
What we can learn from Edward R. Murrow's WWII broadcasts. (Hint: it's about empathy.)
The List Maker [THE MORNING NEWS, Aug. 2011]
Confessions of a list-aholic.
Emerging Empathy [THE RUMPUS, Aug. 2011]
Misha Glouberman's book of essays is a meaty read in a light package -- like a dumpling.
Interviews
The Science of Dreaming [LONGREADS, Dec. 2018]
Science journalist Alice Robb on why we need to take our dreams seriously.
People Sorting: An Interview With "Personality Brokers" Author Merve Emre [LONGREADS, Sept. 2018]
Merve Emre on the history of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.
The Invisible Lives of Young Women With Chronic Illness [LONGREADS, Mar. 2018]
Michele Lent Hirsch on the need for empathy.
An Interview with "Call Me by Your Name" Author Andre Aciman [LONGREADS, Nov. 2017]
The author on his writing process and what it was like to watch a film based on one of his books.
The "New Yorker" staff writer on her new memoir, "The Rules Do Not Apply."
Becoming Estranged from My Family "Was the Best Thing for Me" [LONGREADS, July 2017]
Memoirist Jessica Berger Gross on what it means to sever ties with your family.
Bringing Bach to the Public [LONGREADS, June 2016]
Violinist Michelle Ross spent a month playing Bach's solo works in New York City public spaces.
"My Model for Writing Fiction Is to Replicate the Feeling of a Dream" [LONGREADS, Mar. 2016]
Graphic novelist Daniel Clowes.
An Exegesis on Spanking Fetishists [LONGREADS, Apr. 2016]
Spanking and Shakespeare.
"The Good Is Elusive and Transitory in This World" [LONGREADS, Nov. 2015]
The brilliant and wise author, artist and designer Maira Kalman.
Breaking the Mold [LONGREADS, Aug. 2015]
Social scientist Bella DePaulo on new ways of living.
The Craft of Cooking [LONGREADS, June 2015]
Christopher Kimball: "'Basil-flecked' just makes me want to kill somebody."
The Man Who Became Big Bird [LONGREADS, May 2015]
Caroll Spinney has played Big Bird for nearly half a century.
A Woman on the Margins [LONGREADS, May 2015]
An interview with the writer Vivian Gornick.
Smearch, Fidgital, Skinjecture: Creating New Terms for the Modern World [LONGREADS, Apr. 2015]
Lizzie Skurnick on neologisms and YA lit.
A Conversation With Writer Colm Toibin on the "Close Imagining" of Fiction [LONGREADS, Feb. 2015]
"What’s happening in the novel are a set of changes which are almost imperceptible. And there’s no big moment of release."
Relearning How to Talk in the Age of Smartphone Addiction [LONGREADS, Oct. 2014]
Sherry Turkle on our modern dystopia.
Finding Stories in Familiar Territory: An Interview with Miranda July [LONGREADS, Jan. 2015]
"My husband always describes courting me as trying to coax a wild deer in to the house."
Simon Rich on Guilt, Humor Writing, and Being the Worst Person Ever [LONGREADS, Oct. 2014]
"There's nobody worse than me."
Two People Not Knowing Together [BROOKLYN QUARTERLY BLOG, Oct. 2014]
An interview with psychoanalyst Stephen Grosz.
Caitlin Moran on the Working Class, Masturbation, and Writing a Novel [LONGREADS, Sept. 2014]
"Women are supposed to be some fucking weird llama on the side of hill trying to ascend to a higher plane."
Roxane Gay’s ‘Bad’ Feminism [NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, July 2014]
"I’m not going to be ashamed of a goddamn thing I read.”
Lois Lowry on Giving Up ‘The Giver’ to Hollywood [NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, Aug. 2014]
Kids deserve the right to think that they can change the world."
Veep’s Matt Walsh on Improv-ing About IVF and Suits As Sleepwear [VULTURE, June 2014]
"It’s not as restful as your normal jammies."
Philippe Petit Strikes a Delicate Balance [NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, May 2014]
"I wanted to become a wandering minstrel and a half-man, half-bird."
True Tales of Hell in the Kitchen [NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, April 2013]
NYC chefs on chicken explosions, pot cookies, and a wardrobe malfunction.
Freedom from Duality [KIRKUS, Mar. 2013]
The novelist and Zen Buddhist priest Ruth Ozeki.
Tender Spirits: A Conversation with Marie-Helene Bertino [PARIS REVIEW DAILY, Jan. 2013]
"I’ve always wished the world was a little more kind to tender spirits, was a little more magical."
Christopher Walken Isn’t as Weird as You Think [NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, Nov. 2012]
But he eats like a cat.
Great Moments in Inspiration [NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, Sept. 2012]
Anthony Bourdain, Lupe Fiasco, Ken Burns, Carrie Brownstein + more.
Kid Confidential [TIME OUT NEW YORK KIDS, Sept. 2009]
Two kids' bedtime ritual? "The final pee."
Articles
Can 'Phone Booths' Solve the Problem of Open-Plan Offices? [BBC WORKLIFE, Aug. 2019]
Are we trying to find the silver lining to a bigger problem in cramped pods?
The Price of Being Single [TED IDEAS, Oct. 2015]
One researcher's quest to end discrimination against single people.
Fates and Furies Is One of the Most Anticipated Novels of the Fall [KIRKUS, Aug. 2015]
On Lauren Groff and her provocative new novel.
Kids at Play [NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, Oct. 2014]
Two Danish designers build super-imaginative playgrounds.
A Funny Novelist Eyes Himself More Seriously in New Memoir [KIRKUS, Jan. 2014]
On Gary Shteyngart's deeply introspective new work.
Who Made That Turn Signal? [NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, July 2013]
Hollywood's first film star.
Who Made That Hair Dryer? [NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, July 2013]
A French guy. And bobs.
Are Our Transit Maps Tricking Us? [THE ATLANTIC CITIES, Aug. 2012]
The unknown unknowns of subway maps.
A Contemporary Freudian Slip [TABLET, May 2012]
A New York psychoanalytic society changes its name.
Fiction
Call Me Eliza [LITRO MAGAZINE, Nov. 2015]
A short story.
Audio
The Wilds of Urbia [OUT THERE PODCAST, Apr. 2016]
Becoming alive to beauty in the city's great outdoors.
What Does That Bring to Mind? [BROOKLYN QUARTERLY, Nov. 2014]
A tour of five psychoanalysts' offices and work.T