After reading the latest book by a noted neo-formalist, I became aware of a few disturbing things. First, if he had taken all the good lines out of all the poems in the book, he might have ended up with one good poem. The second observation is related. While all the work in the volume [...]
First of all, shouldn’t the main character of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code be a professor of semiotics, not “symbology,” whatever that is? And had he been that, would we even be discussing Brown’s novel today?
Indeed, the problem with The Da Vinci Code is not the facts of the case but our failure as [...]
I note that it’s not so common only because we still cling to the notion that the common folk really are imbued with a greater sense of right and wrong, that they are somehow more pure, less apt to be impressed by sophistry and flim-flam. We genuinely believe that rural folk, uneducated folk, farmers and [...]
I had a job scaring children for television. Not real kids–tv children. There was a closet and a stolen basketball. “I hope you’ve learned your lesson!” There was Gary Coleman. Upon waking, I could not breathe.
On the Bus / Metroline #714
Outwardly, of course, he was fine: striped chambray shirt, blue blazer, tie, idle chit-chat about [...]
Do you feel the uncontrollable urge to ask your doctor about every new drug advertised on television? Do you find yourself coming down with symptoms of the illnesses medications were meant to treat after hearing or viewing ads for them?
If so, you’re not alone. You could be one of the millions suffering from Media Induced
Hypochondria, [...]
I had a friend who used to dream
of numbers: “500. 500! 500!!”
in continually rising volume and weight
until everything was 500.