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Rumpus Articles
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Movies Briefly, Stripes (1981)
Few movies deserve an “Extended Cut” but I can think of few that deserve one less than Stripes, which was already twenty minutes longer than necessary in its original theatrical edition. Rather than expanding the film to a bloated 126…
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But what if I believe in Bigfoot AND werewolves?
Science Daily says that British historian Brian Regal says that Darwinian evolution killed werewolves, replacing that myth with another sylvan mystery, our old friend Bigfoot. Not sure I’m entirely buying, since the humanoid half-man is not exactly a nineteenth century…
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Writing, Joni Mitchell, LA and Other Things
Your poem sounds like a Joni Mitchell song I’ve never heard before.
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Morning Coffee
Sarah Palin threatens to sue the Internet. (we don’t generally go here, as this is plenty covered on Huffpo and everywhere else, but when someone threatens to sue the Internet we take it seriously.) The purpose of a book cover.…
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How to Save a Neglected Book
A reader writes to Cynthia Crossen at the Wall Street Journal, “Morley Callaghan is my favorite 20th-century novelist. His “That Summer in Paris” is among the best of memoirs. … Every book lover can list authors who were wonderful and…
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An Oral History of Myself #10: Jenni
I treat people the way I’m treated, with the same respect. I’m not worried about your feelings.
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Saddam Hussein the Poet
On Thursday, the National Security Archives obtained and released 20 FBI “interviews” with Saddam Hussein. One of the things Hussein did, apparently, was read his interviewer some of his poetry. Unfortunately, these accounts don’t actually include transcripts of any of…
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Where Have All The Antiheroes Gone?
“But as I’ve been making my own antihero, I’ve come to the disheartening conclusion that he doesn’t appear to have too many contemporaries, that there is little space for the antihero in literature today. Imagine my surprise, not to mention…
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“The memoir of literary obsession”
Over at New York, Sam Anderson has a review of Elizabeth Hawes’ Camus, a Romance in which he identifies the genre “memoir of literary obsession.” I’d never thought of this as a genre, but it’s clearly an important one, most…
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The Worst Library Books Ever
A couple of Michigan librarians have started a web site designed to publicize terrible library books for a) our amusement and b) to bring to light the need for libraries to keep their shelves stacked with current books. The most…
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The Rumpus Book Blog Roundup
And I’m back! Thanks very much to Michael Berger for filling in for me while I was gone! He did a damn fine job. Lots has happened over the last few weeks: