Tag: genna rivieccio

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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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

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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Book Review

Daniel M. Lavery’s Women’s Hotel Isn’t Just an Ode to a Certain Time, But to the Cast-Offs and Misfits of Society Always Trying to Find a Loophole to Get By

While a famed, glamorous women’s hotel like the Barbizon might allow the romantic mythology of “hotel residence living” in the mid-twentieth century to endure, Daniel M. Lavery’s Women’s Hotel paints such a unique setup and period in history as more Girl, Interrupted than, shall we say, Gossip Girl. The “women’s hotel” of Lavery’s imagination is called the Biedermeier, and it knows that it’s “beta” at … Continue reading Daniel M. Lavery’s Women’s Hotel Isn’t Just an Ode to a Certain Time, But to the Cast-Offs and Misfits of Society Always Trying to Find a Loophole to Get By

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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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