What We Talk About When We Talk About Sex (In Fiction)
Sean MurphyWRITING ABOUT SEX is like engaging in sex: it’s hard. Or, it should be. It’s that time of year again, where we can count on three things: shopping-related stress during…
Sui generis on the rocks: Christopher Hitchens (Revisited)
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…
Never Say Nevermore: A Reappraisal of Edgar Allan Poe
If Edgar Allan Poe—and his writing—has not aged well and seems more than a little passé for 21st century sensibilities, it’s not entirely his fault. Like others who have done…
Mark Twain: The Big Daddy of American Letters (Revisited)
On April 21, 1910, author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, died in Redding, Conn. Patriot: the person who can holler the loudest without knowing what he is…
In Defense of Stephen King
FACT: STEPHEN KING, the most successful author of our time, arguably toils more diligently than any other writer. For this alone he deserves recognition and respect. To the haters: Yes, it’s…
Art vs. Life and Death, Again (Revisited)
Wow, look at the New York Times, today, on the complicated legacy of Roberto Bolano, here. Money quote(s): Few writers are more acclaimed right now than the Chilean novelist Roberto…
Art vs. Life and Death, cont’d (Revisited)
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…
Art vs. Life and Death (Revisited)
Subj: art Date: 11/28/98 12:55:40 PM Eastern Standard Time From: BULLMURPH To: BULLMURPH Question: If artists are inherently not normal, but the goal of analysis is more or less to…
What We Talk About When We Talk About Sex (In Fiction)
WRITING ABOUT SEX is like engaging in sex: it’s hard. Or, it should be. It’s that time of year again, where we can count on three things: shopping-related stress during…
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead: The Play’s The Thing (Revisited)
Spoiler alert: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern die. They are, in fact, already dead. And they always have been. But you knew that already, right? Another spoiler: You, too, shall die one…