You don’t have to be a genius to recognize that in the United States politics works along a binary axis of “left” or “liberal” ideologies pitted in a tense contrast with “right” or “conservative” ideologies. You don’t have to have eidetic memory to recognize that in the last three decades, the US has slowly...
The Magician King by Lev Grossman is the sequel to The Magicians, his 2009 novel about a young man and his magical education at Brakebills College, a secret magical academy located somewhere in the wilds of upstate New York. (My review of the The...
A girlfriend gave me my first copy of Watchmen. I had never heard of it and she declared that if I loved comics I must, must, must read it. Milady took her slipcased hardcover first edition down from the shelf and tossed it onto...
Stephen King’s latest novel is not a horror novel. It is not another entry in the dark fantasy of Roland and the Tower. It is not another Bachman book,...
As he finished putting gas in the car, she asked if she should buy more water. He said it was up to her. It depended on whether she wanted...
Please. No more vampires. My friends, please don’t recommend to me any more books that feature vampires as characters, vampires as symbols or metaphors, or vampirism as a...
When I saw the ongoing mash-ups featuring the tear-gas wielding cops of UC Berkeley attacking and various targets, this image instantly came to my mind, which I hastily hacked...
Casual readers might wonder, “Does anyone actually read role-playing game books for pleasure and entertainment?” Excluding that elite group of individuals known collectively as “gamers,” most people wouldn’t derive...
Scene: Democrats and Republicans are gathered to discuss the Fate of the Nation. Each party occupies one side of a very long and beautiful wooden table, hand-carved by slaves...
