Books… 9 Reasons to Start Reading Moby-Dick on its 166th Birthday 14 Nov 201714 Nov 2017 It's no secret that I'm a pretty big Moby-Dick fan. Or, if it was a secret to you, then this might be the first thing you've read by me. Which…
#MoonLandingDay… Ten Ways to Celebrate #MoonLandingDay and Moon Landing Week 2017 16 Jul 2017 The big week is here: Moon Landing Week! Or at least, it eventually will be known as Moon Landing Week. For now, we know that this upcoming Thursday (July 20th)…
Books… Why This Website Displays No Ads 7 Jan 20177 Jan 2017 You may wonder—or perhaps you may not—why this blog displays no ads. Nothing encouraging you to go to other sites, nothing in this margins, nothing at the bottom of the…
Books… Twelve Questions and Answers About The Moonborn (with No Spoilers) 19 Nov 201620 Nov 2016 I've received a number of questions about The Moonborn: or, Moby-Dick on the Moon, my novel that came out on Monday, November 14th. While I love getting questions about it,…
2016 Election… What Would Kurt Vonnegut Say About the 2016 Election? 29 Sep 20161 Oct 2016 Or, When Did We Start Living in a Fictional Satire? I've compared recent events—and, in particular, this presidential election—to many things: Armageddon, Alien, every Batman story, and almost every '90s action movie.…
Batman… The Short Story I Wrote Inspired by Wes Anderson and Carlos Castaneda 19 Sep 201619 Sep 2016 You may have noticed this blog's recent lowered activity. Nothing new since early August, with only a handful of new posts since the beginning of summer. What is the deal,…
Bale… Happy Black Friday 2015 from David Foster Wallace 3 Dec 201525 Nov 2016 A week ago yesterday - on Wednesday, November 25 - I came across a deal on Amazon: a free digital download of the SD version of the David Foster Wallace…
Political Correctness… Why Are Trigger Warnings Less Accepted Than Spoiler Alerts? 18 Aug 2015 I haven't had anything to say about trigger warnings until now. I had been leaning on the side of "not necessary" or "too coddling," as most of the media I…
Books… What Would Faulkner Say About True Detective Season Two? 10 Aug 201515 May 2016 In a previous post, I've argued that no one should call a show good or bad until the end is known. Which means, now that the end is known, we…
Books… Why Harper Lee’s “New Novel” is the Literary Equivalent of Greedo Shooting First 3 Aug 20154 Aug 2015 People love pretending that there is a new novel by Harper Lee, available in stores now. But we all know there isn't. I'm not going to go into all the details…