Books… What is Top 10 Games You Can Play In Your Head, By Yourself? 2 Mar 201916 Nov 2019 It's a book that is real. Over the last few weeks, I’ve found myself repeatedly fielding one particular question: “what’s the deal with this book?” This question has been presented…
Alien… The Homage is Not Enough: on the Limits of Nostalgia-First Narratives 13 Mar 201814 Mar 2018 In the summer of 2016 everyone started telling me that I had to watch a show called Stranger Things. I was reluctant. The reluctance came from the way it was…
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…
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 201527 May 2020 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…
Books… The Beginner’s Guide to David Foster Wallace: Five Things to Read, for Free 31 Jul 20153 Oct 2016 Perhaps you want to see the new David Foster Wallace movie, but you aren't sure why. You know that you like him, or that you might like him, that you…