By Patrick Vecchio This semester probably was my most satisfying in the 10 years I’ve been teaching, but even so, I faltered down the stretch. During a class last week, students and […]
WordsDay Special: 25+ Books in 30+ Days (Double-Overtime)
Last batch. My exam begins in the morning. Three more books: a battlefield, a beach, and Burma.
Words are hardly "such feeble things" in Orwell's literary journalism
Orwell, George. The Road to Wigan Pier. (1937) — Orwell is best know for his dystopic 1984 and Animal Farm, but Orwell cut his chops as a journalist, and he understood the […]
Observations from a weekend of protests in Denver
We’re still trying to make sense of the spectacle that was last week’s DNC in Denver, and the same goes for many of the city’s residents. Our friend Karl Christian had some […]
WordsDay: the art of the possible
In case you’ve been off-planet, the dumpster fire that is Election Season 2008 is in full swing. While this can be entertaining if you’re cynical enough, it’s a process that can exert […]
I am better off not knowing
By Patrick Vecchio (CAUTION: Contains naughty words) The cleavage of men into actors and spectators is the central fact of our time. We are obsessed with heroes who live for us and […]
Ban books? Ban ideas, ban imagination, ban a future
To ban a book is to ban an idea. Some ideas are good; some are bad. But good and bad are judgments each of us must be free to make — and […]
Porn stars must present their papers
By Martin Bosworth Future movie auteurs in the vein of Seymore Butts, take note: In order to produce your next penetrating panoply of puerile pleasure, you need to provide a complete list […]
Segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!
By Robert Silvey Any discussion of race in America must begin with the fact that for 388 years African Americans have been victimized, and for most of that time they were treated […]
It’s alway 1984 somewhere…
Today is the 58th anniversary of the publication of 1984, George Orwell’s dystopian vision of a corporatized totalitarian world where “Big Brother” is always watching and where the art of “double-think” (holding […]
