NonBinary Review, publication, and a great deal on a lit mag
Issue 8 of NonBinary Review, which features my story "AlterMist" and draws its theme from Sun Tzu's The Art of War, just came out in Kindle Edition. If you are…
Reading Animal Farm with eighth-graders
This particular re-reading of Orwell’s classic novel has been brought to you by my eighth grade English class, who picked Animal Farm over two other books, the names of which…
Gateway to Paradise Revisited, and Further Notes
I recently had a conversation with someone more familiar with this book than myself, and it brought up a few things that I didn’t really address -or that I addressed…
Book Fight!
https://bookfightpod.com/ Book Fight is a easily my favorite literary podcast out of the half-dozen or so that I listen to. I’ve mentioned them here before, but they are in the…
Reading on Your Phone, #Longreads, and Attention Spans
I rely on my phone more than I want to. I’m aware of my tendencies in this regard -I didn’t even get a smartphone until the beginning of 2015. And…
Best Of 2015
Best Novel: “Grendel”. Gardner’s seminal work is beautiful and semantically dense. Honorable mention: ”Infinite Jest” Best Short Story collection: “Jesus’ Son”. Denis Johnson’s best work, in my opinion. Honorable…
Relatability, Misery Porn, and Denis Johnson’s “The Laughing Monsters”
Denis Johnson’s latest novel is dark. This is not uncharted territory for the man, but the bleakness here is obliterating. There is a detached and passive depression in the…
Kurt Vonnegut’s Player Piano and Grading Debut Novels on a Curve
Debut novels are interesting. I’m a big Vonnegut fan. I’m planning to read all of his novels and then get a tattoo of the asshole he drew in Breakfast of…
Tender is the Night and Re-reading Gatsby, or “Yes, Francis, We Know You Want to be Old Money”
I almost didn’t make it through Tender is the Night. I think I only pushed through the god-awful first act because the book is considered Fitzgerald’s best, and I wanted…
Rilke’s “Letters to a Young Poet” and Cultivating the Virtue of Solitude
Rilke’s 10 letters -written when he was rather young, to an admiring fellow poet, younger still- continue to enjoy a popularity within the artistic set. I came to this slim…