Milan Kundera’s Testaments Betrayed
This was probably the most intellectually challenging book I’ve read all year. Translated from the French, it's a massive essay on a broad range of topics including but not limited…
Thom Jones’s The Pugilist at Rest
This is my favorite book of the year, bar none. A few authors have left me disturbed after reading (Carver, Tobias Wolfe, John Darnielle) but Thom Jones literally brought tears…
Moby-Dick: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Canon
I’ve been hearing the advice to “toss out the canon” given to readers more and more of late (most recently in Austin Kleon’s email newsletter). While I agree that there…
Steinbeck, The Pearl, and another rant on the internet about YA lit
The Pearl is a wonderful little novella that is easily devoured in an afternoon. The prose is simple and reads quickly, but surprises with vivid and powerful metaphors. It’s a…
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs -Chuck Klosterman
This collection of essays produced a magical juxtaposition in my mind where I was both entertained by Klosterman’s cleverness and really wanted to punch him right in the goddamn face.…
Part 3: Writing and Lit Podcasts, or the Terrifying Specter of People Talking About the “Writing Life”
(I love podcasts. I listen around 2 or 3 hours a day between my commute, time at the gym, and household chores. This is part 3 of 4.) These are all…
Time Capsules
I’m fascinated by unintentional time capsules. A week ago I picked up The Doonesbury Chronicles (1972) at Phoenix Books for a dollar and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying it. To be…
TV?
This is an incomplete list of TV shows I have started, then not finished out of lack of interest: Boardwalk Empire Breaking Bad Game of Thrones Hannibal Mad Men I…
Used Book Stores
Bakersfield and the surrounding area is a bit of a literary desert. We have one Barnes and Noble. We have a handful of Christian “bookstores”, but most of their real…
Reading, Working, Reading
I worked private security for a little over a year as an undergrad. It was one of the worst jobs I’ve ever done. I took it out of absolute financial…