Author Archives:

Beauty and Class

Posted on March 21, 2012

The distrust of “beauty” expressed by Arianna Montagu in the debates over the 9-11 memorial is very modern sentiment. It stems  from a radically progressive belief that  traditional forms of beauty have  ideological links to conservative social and political forces … Continue reading →

Posted in Reading Response | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A Few Disjointed Late Night Thoughts on Kelly’s Inspired Hot Mess of a Movie

Posted on February 28, 2012

Rewatching Southland Tales  after reading the prequel saga I’m conflicted in my response to Kelly’s film. On the one hand, I admire his ambitious attempt to create a complex narrative given filmic expression through a consistently rich visual language that … Continue reading →

Posted in Reading Response | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Zizek and Secularized Christianity

Posted on February 15, 2012

Although I’ve never considered myself a capitalist booster I cannot help but resist the basic premise of so many of the writer’s we’re reading that, to borrow  Franzen’s evocative  phrase, “capitalism is an infernal machine” that must be vigorously resisted, … Continue reading →

Posted in Reading Response | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The challenges faced by the modern novelist aspiring to write serious fiction that impacts the larger culture have continued to grow since the publication of “Why Bother?”. Not only has more and more writing migrated to the internet but complex … Continue reading →

Posted on January 9, 2012 | Leave a comment