On Susan Sontag, the Wild West, and spring break. by Luke Zinger Illustration by Em Bennett Up until about a month ago, my vision of “the West” was a hazy ideal constructed by half-remembered scenes of galavanting cowboys in network television Westerns, and a hedonistic, rambling set of passages I’d earmarked in my copy of Kerouac’s On the Road. I had dreamlike imaginings of shriveled tumbleweeds crawling down horsetrod desert paths in New Mexico, and giant, thundering tornad

A love letter to the U.S. Mint’s newest retiree. By Luke Zinger Illustration by Isabelle Oh In my hometown upstate, there is a large plastic fish head whose five-foot wide mouth juts out from the carpet. The fish is actually an exhibit in my favorite childhood museum, and every few months from ages four to eight, I would look forward to making a wish while dropping a coin down its mouth. I never remembered to bring a coin myself, so I would plead for my parents (or grandpare

Wisdom from the ghosts of Butler Stacks. By Luke Zinger Illustration by Lilah Chen NINTH FLOOR STACKS, BUTLER LIBRARY. It’s almost midnight on the night before a midterm worth 45% of your grade. You’ve consumed nothing but Blue Java hazelnut coffee and a stale slice of lemon loaf since 11 a.m. Out of the corner of your eye, you start to see strange words swimming around your field of vision, appearing on the walls, on the arms of the chairs, and on the table you’re working on