Demolition Man Imagined the Censored, Sexless Future As Much As Nineteen-Eighty Four

Although George Orwell’s most indelible novel (for the average person), Nineteen Eighty-Four, is held up as the ultimate masterwork on how repressing people to the point of docile muteness will lead to nothing but, well, collective bovine stupidity, there exists another “tome,” if you will, on the matter. And it is Marco Brambilla’s 1993 movie, Demolition Man. Released the same year as Last Action Hero, it was theoretically … Continue reading Demolition Man Imagined the Censored, Sexless Future As Much As Nineteen-Eighty Four

Genna RivieccioAugust 30, 2022August 30, 2022Leave a comment

Poetry

If It Took Us Down Then, What About Now? by Donna Dallas

On the days when my only friend came to visit her mom her mom would clean herself upthey’d sit tight knotted table in betweenand chain smoke Later after her mother left the table to shoot upmy friend would ring my bellwe’d head to the train trestle and sitwith legs dangled over the bridgesmoke all the cigs she clipped from her momwe threw rocks at the topof the freight trainas … Continue reading If It Took Us Down Then, What About Now? by Donna Dallas

Genna RivieccioAugust 20, 2022August 20, 20222 Comments

Essay

Maybe The Only “Good” Thing About The Attack on Rushdie Is That It Proves Literature Still Has Power… Or Not, Since It Only Does If You “Speak Ill” of a Very Particular Subject

Salman Rushdie’s August 12th stabbing in “idyllic” Chautauqua, New York brought up many emotions for those with enthusiasm for literature (and even those without it). Or, more accurately, the freedom of speech element it champions. On the one hand, there is something “encouraging” about the fact that the power of someone’s words in novel form could hold such weight. On the other, that it took … Continue reading Maybe The Only “Good” Thing About The Attack on Rushdie Is That It Proves Literature Still Has Power… Or Not, Since It Only Does If You “Speak Ill” of a Very Particular Subject

Genna RivieccioAugust 17, 2022August 17, 20221 Comment

Poetry

Penis Envy by Ron Kolm

didn’t start withTrump and Putin.Unfortunately, itGoes all the way backTo the dawn of man.Two males in a caveWaving their clubs aroundStare at each otherIn fear and envy.“Mine’s bigger,” one shouts.“No, mine is!” yells backThe other.And then they startBashing each other untilOnly one guy is left standing,One hand gripping his clubThe other cupping his manhood.He almost seems to smileAs he leaves to find some womenTo yell … Continue reading Penis Envy by Ron Kolm

Genna RivieccioAugust 10, 2022August 12, 20221 Comment

Poetry

An Ode to Evil by Matthew Peluso

Does good always triumph over evil? Not for its victims, for whom timing was everything—too late for them.Not for the millions slaughtered in the camps—was Nuremberg a triumph?The tens of millions un-personed by Stalin, Pol Pot, etc.What benefit to them the death of the dialectic? Reconciliation committees? Nor for the murdered Bosnians, machete-hacked Tutsis, beheaded Afghan women How have the ex post facto treaties helped them? … Continue reading An Ode to Evil by Matthew Peluso

Genna RivieccioAugust 8, 2022Leave a comment

Essay

Why Marilyn Monroe and Sylvia Plath Go Hand in Hand

On what marks the sixtieth anniversary of Marilyn Monroe’s death (a suicide, an accident or a murder, depending on who you ask), there seems to be more interest than ever in the icon that captivated the world and incited a sexual awakening within a repressed American culture. From Kim Kardashian effectively dancing on Marilyn’s corpse by forcing her ass to squeeze into the Jean Louis … Continue reading Why Marilyn Monroe and Sylvia Plath Go Hand in Hand

Genna RivieccioAugust 4, 2022Leave a comment

Fiction

Oblivion by Susie Gharib

His mind had stripped every surrounding object of color, shape and sound. Substance is an illusion that deludes one’s eyes. He claims to have insulated every nerve cell in his nose so that no smell or odor can resurrect any shreds of the past, any associations or residue that may in his subconscious still reside. He boasts the fact that his ears need no plugs … Continue reading Oblivion by Susie Gharib

Genna RivieccioAugust 3, 2022Leave a comment