Category: Essay

Essay

On the Unpleasant Reality Behind Gloria Steinem’s Brand of Feminism

There is no “perfect” model for anything. Whether it’s politics, economic systems or, in this instance, feminism. Yet, in death, the people that are meant to embody a particular “cause” are inevitably elevated to a status of near-sainthood (or simply as the “personification of the women’s movement,” per The New York Times). Gloria Steinem is one such person. For, in the wake of the announcement … Continue reading On the Unpleasant Reality Behind Gloria Steinem’s Brand of Feminism

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Essay

Dolly Parton, Literacy Advocate Extraordinaire

If you’re an avid (or even “casual”) reader, chances are, you picked up the habit early on in life. After all, it’s not something that most people tend to “take to” on a whim post-childhood or -adolescence. Particularly since that’s usually the period in one’s life when they become chained to a job (or several) until the end of their days (though not all of … Continue reading Dolly Parton, Literacy Advocate Extraordinaire

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Criticism, Essay

Chiara Barzini’s Things That Happened Before the Earthquake Reminds that Italians “Out West” Have, In Many Regards, Always Had It Rougher When It Comes to “Assimilating”

Perhaps the first thing one must emphasize in talking about the Italian diaspora in the United States is that East Coast Italians are very much their own race of people now, entirely separate from Italians themselves (the real ones that arrived in the 1880s for the first wave of immigration). And they certainly seem to like it that way—are even proud of the “standalone” “culture” … Continue reading Chiara Barzini’s Things That Happened Before the Earthquake Reminds that Italians “Out West” Have, In Many Regards, Always Had It Rougher When It Comes to “Assimilating”

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Criticism, Essay

Holden Caulfield as Early Prototype for the Modern-Day Incel/Generally Disaffected Male

Seeing as how the seventy-fifth anniversary of the publication of The Catcher in the Rye occurred on July 16th, there’s been the usual amount of “honoring” the book and its ongoing legacy. But it seems that one legacy about it that still doesn’t get talked about enough is just how much Holden Caulfield served as a blueprint for the type of male now commonly referred … Continue reading Holden Caulfield as Early Prototype for the Modern-Day Incel/Generally Disaffected Male

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Essay

Madonna and The Myth of Sisyphus

While those of a certain level of stodginess in the increasingly diminished world of the literarily inclined might not deem Madonna of a “worthy” caliber (yet somehow Taylor Swift ekes by with her jank interpretations of Shakespearean characters), there’s no denying she’s always made her fair share of allusions to various titans of prose and poetry. Whether it’s literally citing scripture in “The Beast Within,” … Continue reading Madonna and The Myth of Sisyphus

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Criticism, Essay

The Oddness of The Devil Wears Prada 2 Acting As if the Notion That “Print is Dead” is New or Sobering Information

It’s funny to think that as recently as 2022, when discussing The Devil Wears Prada, Anne Hathaway told The View, “I don’t know if there can be [a sequel]. I just think that movie was in a different era. Now everything’s gone so digital and that movie is centered around the concept of producing a physical thing and it’s just, it’s just very different.” But … Continue reading The Oddness of The Devil Wears Prada 2 Acting As if the Notion That “Print is Dead” is New or Sobering Information

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Criticism, Essay

Christian Kracht’s Eurotrash: Another Bret Easton Ellis-Style “Romp” That Examines the Guilt of Privilege—and How That Guilt Ultimately Serves Nothing But the Status Quo

If Christian Kracht’s debut novel, Faserland, was considered a “rip-off” of Bret Easton Ellis’ general style, Eurotrash would also like to submit itself for consideration. After all, its autofiction genre is very much in keeping with what Easton Ellis did for 2005’s Lunar Park (back when “metafiction” was the chicer word to use). And while most people associate BEE with Less Than Zero (which also, … Continue reading Christian Kracht’s Eurotrash: Another Bret Easton Ellis-Style “Romp” That Examines the Guilt of Privilege—and How That Guilt Ultimately Serves Nothing But the Status Quo

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Criticism, Essay

Why Emerald Fennell’s Adaptation of Wuthering Heights Is Such a Hot-Button Issue for the Stodgier Side of the Literary World Right Now (And Why It Shouldn’t Be)

It’s not any kind of “shocking revelation” that what’s left of the “book business” is mostly in shambles. And that what it takes to “monetize” literature in the present is a decidedly “bread and circuses” approach. Never was that made more apparent than the advent of “BookTok.” However, with Emerald Fennell’s latest film, a “version” of Wuthering Heights (that she opted to put in quotation … Continue reading Why Emerald Fennell’s Adaptation of Wuthering Heights Is Such a Hot-Button Issue for the Stodgier Side of the Literary World Right Now (And Why It Shouldn’t Be)

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Criticism, Essay

Michael Douglas Movies Document a “Crisis of Masculinity” Trajectory, Or: Jessa Crispin’s What Is Wrong With Men Answers That Question and Then Some

It’s no secret at this juncture that there has been an ongoing “crisis of masculinity.” What that means, ultimately, is that most hetero men can’t fathom why their continued performance of outmoded masculine “ideals” aren’t translating and/or attracting women in the present. Enter Jessa Crispin to explain it all via the films of Michael Douglas, in a book titled What Is Wrong With Men. With … Continue reading Michael Douglas Movies Document a “Crisis of Masculinity” Trajectory, Or: Jessa Crispin’s What Is Wrong With Men Answers That Question and Then Some

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Essay

Slightly Under a Year of (Not So Much) Rest and Relaxation: The Coin

*Note: the narrator of The Coin will be referred to as The Palestinian Narrator, and the narrator of My Year of Rest and Relaxation will be referred to as The Blonde Narrator. Among the blurbs on the back of Yasmin Zaher’s debut novel, The Coin, Alice Slater writes that it is a “sordid Moshfeghian gem that revels in the squalor of NYC.” Yes, much as … Continue reading Slightly Under a Year of (Not So Much) Rest and Relaxation: The Coin

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