JAMES RYANwrites. Born and raised in the Woodlawn section of The Bronx, Ryan graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He holds an MFA from Columbia University. He also has masters degrees in literature and economics. Whether any of this helps is hard to say.
His poetry, short fiction, literary criticism and political commentary have appeared in numerous publications. He was a columnist for Aydinlik Daily, a newspaper in Istanbul, Turkey. He has taught writing and literature at City College of New York, Columbia University and Kadir Has University in Istanbul. His all-time favorite novel is The Last Hurrah by Edwin O'Connor. It tells of the political prowess of Boston's Irish-Americans and, with the coming of television, the looming end of their political machine. His second favorite book is his own new one, What Abides: West Point in Afterthought. Read on.