Murdered by Subtlety By the time I was twelve years old, I had begun the long process of removing…
Philanthropy as a Pathology
An essay on philanthropy that I began in 2009 at the request of Orion Magazine has at last appeared. But…
Managing Despair
The essay below is in the March Playboy Forum. I’ve received their permission to post so that it could be…
Crazy Wisdom: von Trier’s Melancholia
This is from the Great Grotesque Thing I’m writing, but it has some topical relevance now so I’ll post it.…
“Late Word” essay up at Lapham’s
Big Others: FYI: My essay on the future of literature is up at Lapham’s Quarterly “Roundtable”. http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/roundtable/the-late-word.php
Sorry Ass Devolution
This is an aside from a longer reading of Wordsworth’s “Immortality Ode.” It felt blog-like, so here it is. For…
I Talk to Kakutani
Part the last of my Kakutani demolition derby. I had a telephone conversation with Michiko Kakutani once. In 1990-something I…
From the Barbaric Heart: Kakutani: Death Star
This is Part 2 of my hit job on the most important literary critic in these theoretically United States. It’s…
From the Barbaric Heart: Michiko reviews my unwritten book!
I’m going to post three short things regarding the NY Times book reviewer Michiko Kakutani. They are mostly lies and…
From the Barbaric Heart: Sufjan Stevens’ Vengeful Play
I was listening to Sufjan Stevens’ song “I Walked” on his new album The Age of Adz when it occurred…