This is The Question, There are No Other Questions
Sean MurphyToward the end of The Verdict, Paul Newman's mentor first admonishes him, reminding him that he broke the first law of being a trial lawyer, which is: never asks a…
Original Poem: Francis Coppola’s Apocalypse
On Art Monsters & Immortality i. It continues to be a joy and honor to have my work appear –alongside so many excellent writers– in Exterminating Angel Press. The theme of…
The Great Gatsby at 100
F. Scott Fitzgerald got America in his sights, for all time Why is the The Great Gatsby the great American novel? Because it mattered then, and it matters now. Because it was…
1925, 2025
“Civilization’s going to pieces...I’ve gotten to be a terrible pessimist about things. Have you read ‘The Rise of the Colored Empires’ by this man Goddard? Well, it’s a fine book,…
Orrin Keepnews: Hero for America’s Music
Revisiting a piece from exactly 10 years ago, celebrating an unjustly obscure, sadly under-appreciated hero for American Culture. March 20, 2015 Orrin Keepnews frequently talked about jazz the way war…
Gene Hackman, The Bone Marrow of American Artistry
Once upon a time when I was sixteen I had the great good fortune to be driving my father's car when the alternator died (making it, at least initially, my…
Thank You, Jeff Bezos
Thank you, Jeff Bezos. On one hand, the news coming out this morning from the Washington Post issimultaneously shocking, grotesque, and, in ways that would only be possible in 2025, totally predictable. Sean…
2/26/12: A Poem for Trayvon Martin
On this day in History: On February 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin, an African American teen walking home from a trip to a convenience store, is fatally shot by George Zimmerman, a…
Songs From the Big Chair at 40
Forty years ago today: Songs from the Big Chair, one of the best albums (start to finish as great as any album of that decade got) of the '80s dropped.…
Let The Music Be Your Master: Physical Graffiti at 50
i. Let’s Get Physical You want to understand and appreciate how transcendentally great Led Zeppelin is? If I were to say: I’d like to pay tribute to their masterpiece, you could reasonably…