2023: A Final Farewell to Some Irreplaceable Icons
Wow, it's sad to look back and see the sheer number of all-times greats we watched depart our planet this year. Of course, these losses are invariably mitigated by the…
Wow, it's sad to look back and see the sheer number of all-times greats we watched depart our planet this year. Of course, these losses are invariably mitigated by the…
i. Kundera almost killed me, still in my creative cradle, a writer needing nourishment. He arrived in my life too early. As a reader, it wasn’t soon enough, as what…
Martin Amis poses for a photographer June 12, 2000 at a book signing at the Beverly Hills Library in Beverly Hills, CA. (by Frederick M. Brown/Online USA) Style is not…
Martin Amis was not merely the supreme literary stylist of his generation, his non-fiction was, arguably (unbelievably) possibly even better than his fiction. An absolute master, and incomparable in every…
Write what you know: at once the best and worst counsel offered to the aspiring fiction writer. It is insufficient, if not too smug and certain, too limiting, and possibly…
Coming soon: a movie list and, inevitably, some musical suggestions to accompany social distancing, working from home, reading, relaxing, and staying both healthy and sane. But first, some easily recommended books. Disclaimer:…
Winston Churchill famously remarked: “My vices protect me but they would assassinate you.” And he managed to achieve a thing or two in his time, decadent proclivities be damned. But…
Reading Martin Amis's non-fiction is like riding in a plane. As you cruise over miniaturized skyscrapers, crop circles, mountains, even oceans, you recognize—and remember—how tiny and insignificant your own piece…
The best way to compliment a writer, as a reader, is to recommend their work to others. That I wholeheartedly do --and have done. The best way to compliment a…
Here's the thing: one wonders how many of these artistic types are producing anything worthwhile? How many worthwhile artists do you run into who are even comfortable talking about the…