Recent posts
Rumpus Articles
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The Rumpus Gets Smart: The Definitive Essay on Dudeness
“If you were a man, a real man, you’d slap me.” – ‘Young Hussy’ in the wrestling screenplay of Barton Fink. If the Coen Brothers’ oeuvre might be described as an extended frolic through the archives of film history, it…
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Rumpus Film Review: Voices from El-Sayed
It’s a shame the documentary Voices from El-Sayed isn’t as interesting as its premise.
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Nicholson Baker Tries Kindle, Finds it Wanting
If you know anything about Nicholson Baker, you know that he has an unparalleled talent for describing the small and ordinary things in everyday life, their textures and surfaces and the way they heft in the hand; and more than…
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Women’s Growing Love of Porn Is Changing the Market
“When everyone tells you that what you might be curious about, or even secretly like, is wrong, bad, sleazy, and shameful, you don’t have to cast a line very far to land a set of inhibitions.” So writes author and…
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The Rumpus Review of Funny People
With Funny People, Judd Apatow set out to make a masterpiece. What is surprising is not his failure, but the fact that he got so close.
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Fingers Through Holy Water
Gospel music, like its secular cousin the blues, never wallows in pity, but instead seeks to transcend pain and reach glory. Bashir’s book makes the same trip.
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“Stabilimentum,” a Rumpus Original Poem by Samiya Bashir
Stabilimentum Bend into my mouth before frost ends us.
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Why Books Are Stupid
Elissa Bassist recently wrote a piece extolling the virtues of books. She suggests the good ones “can make life manageable” and turn a bad day into a good one. But here’s the thing: If this were true, librarians would be…
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The Rumpus Interview with Jill Sobule
Her songs are unique. They tell stories about human beings, real and imagined, which allow us to step back from the issue, be it personal or social, and relate to it as we would a friend.
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Morning Coffee
The most beautiful flowermart in the world. “Aldous Huxley vs. George Orwell” (no this isn’t the same link as the other day, thanks for asking.) “Eric,” a story in pictures by Shaun Tan. The best of Wikipedia. A brief illustrated…
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Great Authors’ Syllabi
When I think about good books, I think about this: -Never read a bad book/book you don’t like 50 pages in; it’s wasteful. -You will die someday; read accordingly. -Reading aloud among friends can be [insert the best adjective you…
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The Rumpus Interview with Jonathan Ames
Maybe my work isn’t a cry for help. It may just be a baby’s need to cry or a dog’s need to bark.