Swamplandia!
Karen Russell’s Swamplandia! might be one of the best books I’ve ever read. Two things: I bought this for my Nook but think I’ll go get a paper version, so I can lend it out to every reader I know. At some point, I’ll read […]
Who Is a Funhouse Mirror, Exactly?
I’m reading Inferno: A Poet’s Novel, by Eileen Myles, which I got because I went to this art thing at PS1 and Eileen was reading when we walked in and she was really, really good. I’ve been to a couple readings lately where, even though […]
Post-Empiricism
Does post-truth come after postmodernism? Post-science? Post-empiricism? Incredible as it seems, I’m noticing a distinct post-empirical trend in writing lately. Things we think are true are sometimes not true. Things we label facts are sometimes not facts. There’s a cool article in Scientific American about […]
Things I Am Enjoying Exactly As Much As I Was Expecting To Enjoy Them
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I just finished the third book (although I’m reading from the omnibus, so it doesn’t feel like I’ve finished anything much) after having heard about the series for ages, and after having seen the movie. It is exactly what […]
Go to Call + Response on Saturday
I have this desire to write about Obama’s budget speech, and say that I’m happy he’s wearing his Campaign Pants again, and wonder a little bit about what it would mean for him to be wearing his Campaign Pants and his President Pants at the […]
Feedback about the Feedback about Infinite Jest on YahooAnswers
Thanks to the pending (or recent, because “release dates” are a little arbitrary) release of The Pale King, David Foster Wallace is even more all over the internets (or at least, the internets I imbibe) than usual. (Sorry for all the parentheticals. I’m feeling conspiratorial, […]
If You Want to Prevent Harassment, Teach Us Not to Harass
It’s possible I’m just attending the wrong workplace conduct and sexual harassment prevention trainings, but these programs always manage to infuriate me. Every. Single. Time. There are two things that happen in harassment prevention trainings, in my experience. 1) Someone tells the trainees how to […]
Take Rape Allegations Seriously and Also Don’t Use Them For Things The End
I just tweeted about the same thing over and over, so that must mean it’s time for a blog post! Summary of issue: Michael Moore has done some very ugly victim-blaming in his essay “Why I’m Posting Bail Money for Julian Assange,” writing that the […]
Entrapment, Dystopia, SciFi
Because so many people are looking to this blog for my Very Important Thoughts on Very Important Things, here, briefly, is my gut reaction to Friday’s “terrorism” arrest. It’s creepy.
On NaNoWriMo
This year, moreso than past Novembers, there’s been a glut of commentary on the annual National Novel Writing Month challenge. The Atlantic Wire has a good round-up of opinions here , to which I’d add Candlemark & Gleam’s November 5 blog post. The short version: […]