His publications include essays on Willa Cather and Flannery O'Connor and articles on performance in literature and medicine. His play Primary Care, written with the collaboration of the historian Thomas R. Cole, has been performed at conferences, professional meetings, and theaters in Texas, South Carolina, and Illinois. He directs "Common Ground," a collaborative institute for teachers of literature, and the project for the Study of Values in Civic Life and the Professions at the University of Houston. His contribution to Zembla is a chapter from his book Power to Hurt: The Virtues of Alienation (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1998) on Pale Fire.