Category: Essay

Essay

Maybe The Most Remarkable Element About Misery Now is the Notion That a Writer Could Have a Stalker

Although Stephen King created Annie Wilkes, it was Rob Reiner who truly brought her to life by making the executive decision to cast Kathy Bates in the 1990 adaptation of the novel. For while it was screenwriter William Goldman who recommended the then relatively unknown theater actress for the part, it was Reiner who had the final say in greenlighting her for the role (which … Continue reading Maybe The Most Remarkable Element About Misery Now is the Notion That a Writer Could Have a Stalker

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Essay

What the Philip Roth Thanksgiving Passage in American Pastoral Gets Wrong

There has never been a more fraught (to use understatement) time to be Jewish in the United States. Never a time when it was so politically weaponized for a “with us or against us” purpose (one such example being the “pro-Israel” defense of, “You’re antisemitic if you don’t support it”). And even saying something as simple and straightforward as that could be deemed as an … Continue reading What the Philip Roth Thanksgiving Passage in American Pastoral Gets Wrong

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Essay

Everything Is Copy: The Nora Ephron, and Now, Lily Allen Philosophy

As the discussion surrounding Lily Allen’s fifth album, West End Girl, continues to set tongues wagging, it bears reminding the masses that Allen is hardly the first woman to speak so candidly about the dissolution of a marriage as a result of a cheating husband (though, in David Harbour’s case, the fact that he managed to still cheat by violating the rules of his open … Continue reading Everything Is Copy: The Nora Ephron, and Now, Lily Allen Philosophy

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Essay

Has Taylor Swift Actually Read Hamlet? And, If So, Did She Understand It?, Or: The Fate of Ophelia Wasn’t to Be Commodified by a Pop Star (At Least Not Like This)

There’s nothing worse than demeaning a woman with regard to her “comprehension” of something. As if women don’t get enough grief/aren’t already questioned constantly whenever they say anything that a man (or fellow woman) can pounce on as being “wrong.” Just look at the clip of Kurt Loder correcting Jewel about the meaning of “casualty” in her A Night Without Armor poetry book. Or having … Continue reading Has Taylor Swift Actually Read Hamlet? And, If So, Did She Understand It?, Or: The Fate of Ophelia Wasn’t to Be Commodified by a Pop Star (At Least Not Like This)

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Essay

Most Writers Can Relate to Wednesday’s Aversions to Being Edited

In many ways, writing is the act of saying I, of imposing oneself upon other people, of saying listen to me, see it my way, change your mind. It’s an aggressive, even a hostile act.  -Joan Didion While Tim Burton’s interpretation of Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) in, what else, Wednesday can be more than occasionally too mawkish for comfort, there is one thing he and … Continue reading Most Writers Can Relate to Wednesday’s Aversions to Being Edited

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Essay

Do Not Come for My Em Dash

Considering that very few news items generate an interest in literature, the ongoing conversation about whether or not an em dash is the ultimate telltale sign of AI-generated writing has been especially notable. Not just because it’s marked a clear line between those who are fans (a.k.a. devoted users) of the em dash and those who are not, but because, of all the telltale signs … Continue reading Do Not Come for My Em Dash

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Essay

Sally Rooney, Palestine Action and What Writers Are Supposed to Do (Particularly the Errant Few Rich Ones)

Something is rotten in the state of Britain. Well, many things actually. But the thing that’s taken center stage of late is the ongoing arrests of hundreds of people—mostly over sixty—for their support of the recently proscribed organization known as Palestine Action, founded in the apocalyptic year of 2020. Then again, every year since has felt pretty apocalyptic, with ‘25 being no exception. This year, … Continue reading Sally Rooney, Palestine Action and What Writers Are Supposed to Do (Particularly the Errant Few Rich Ones)

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Essay

Sigrid Nunez Brings Up a Valid Point in The Friend About Technology’s (Lack of) Use in Literature

Most people still clinging to the notion of being a writer (or at least a “pure of heart” one) are likely classifiable, at this juncture, in the “old soul” category. As such, they tend to romanticize the era when everything wasn’t dominated by technology. More specifically, smartphones and the internet. And among the many hard truths/pearls of wisdom that Sigrid Nunez offers in The Friend … Continue reading Sigrid Nunez Brings Up a Valid Point in The Friend About Technology’s (Lack of) Use in Literature

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Essay

How the March Hare and the White Rabbit Are Framed Differently Based on Perceptions of “Being Busy”

Perhaps, like the March Hare (a.k.a. Haigha) of Lewis Carroll’s beloved Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, we should all be wearing straw on our heads these days. For, during the Victorian times when these stories were originally published (1865 and 1871, respectively), this was a primary way of portraying a character’s madness. And, in case you hadn’t noticed lately, “We’re all mad … Continue reading How the March Hare and the White Rabbit Are Framed Differently Based on Perceptions of “Being Busy”

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Essay

Whether They Knew It or Not, Michelle Trachtenberg Subliminally Influenced Many a Millennial Writer, Or: Harriet the Spy and Writing

Although Harriet the Spy was once classifiable as a piece of “baby boomer history,” the adaptation of Louise Fitzhugh’s 1964 novel into a Nickelodeon movie released in 1996 re-rendered it into an instant classic of millennial childhood. And yes, it was typical of the generation that, in order for a book to be “received,” it had to be a film (e.g., Matilda, Jumanji, The Iron … Continue reading Whether They Knew It or Not, Michelle Trachtenberg Subliminally Influenced Many a Millennial Writer, Or: Harriet the Spy and Writing

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