White Noise, Talk Radio, and Our Unexceptional Present
To view our era as unprecedented is both chauvinist and defeatist.
Homer’s Odyssey: The First Literary Thriller
Literary thrillers are about the journey, not the destination.
A Celebration of the Abject, the Queer, and the Arcane: The Work of Writer-Musician Jenny Hval
Hval’s work, both in written and musical form, shows an artist willing to explore the limits of genres.
Weirding the Periphery: How Imperialism Infiltrated Our Imagination Through Fantasy
So much of foundational fantasy is about the (often imperial) core versus outside territories.
Pumping Gold: How a Decade of Bodybuilding and Terrorism Started a Wave of Cheap Fantasy Movies
Politics, pulp fiction, and pumping iron.
Italo Calvino and the Secret of “Cozy” Fiction
No lattes needed.
Lost Highway, David Lynch, and the End of History
We're all on a ride going nowhere down a lost highway.
The Legend of Mother Sarah: Light in the Post-Apocalyptic Darkness
The Legend of Mother Sarah is just as bold in its prognosis of our modern woes as Akira.
Legends, Lattes, and Lament: The Necessity of Pain in “Cozy” Fiction
Cozy fiction works best when contrasted against harsh emotional, material, or political realities.