Brian McDonald has a great post up on The New York Times “Proof” blog, “Under the Literary Influence,” that tell the story of Hunter S. Thompson setting himself ablaze at Elaine’s while doing flaming shots of Bacardi. McDonald’s essay is generally about his attraction to drunken writers and how, “one book at…

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We immediately identified with August Brill, the central figure in Paul Auster’s latest novel Man In the Dark because of the technique he employs when he can’t sleep.  Like Brill, as we lie awake, we pursue a story line with us in the lead–let’s call them fantasies–and these fantastic, often repeated…

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Writer Iain Levison’s opinion page piece for the Washington Post, ‘“The Blow the Working Class Saw Coming” stated several things we’re not necessarily proud to say we already knew. For example:

As the country slides deeper into recession, the grim triage of home repair — which lots of people, living in…

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Those who believe that shrinks are as neurotic and deluded as their patients—hey, it isn’t always true—will find supporting evidence in Hanif Kureishi’s new novel Something To Tell You. Its narrator, Jamal, is a gentle London psychoanalyst who loves gossip and secrets. “I deal in them for a living,” he…

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Living down a rabbit hole here in Montana, we don’t get much opportunity to hear live music or, at least, exceptional live music. But we do get opportunity. Last month, pianist Adam Platt and bassist Kelly Roberti thrilled us with a performance that reminded us what we love about live…

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Yesterday, the papers were abuzz with news of the latest-but-long-delayed Kindle. Today, there’s this on publishing giant HarperCollins, one of the last hold outs in the slash-and-burn world of publishing. Did the past 48 hours just give us a glimpse into the future of books?

And don’t forget to shake this into…

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A sideshow of lost personalities, Abandoned Cars follows folks who have discarded the American dream and created their own nightmare.

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Lack of posting? Blame it on our move. Not to Seattle–that dearly depressive town–as seemed possible last fall, but across town, a matter of blocks, motivated by love and a desire to cut expenses (see the myth of “two can live as cheaply as one”). Relocation is a great American…

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The bearded visage of Ernesto “Che” Guevara is ubiquitous, gazing heavily from t-shirts and dorm room posters world-wide. Now the subject of a two-part, epic film from director Stephen Sonderbergh starring Benicio del Toro, Guevera is a potent symbol of revolutionary action and counter culture merchandising, inflaming passions on all…

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