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Rumpus Articles
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The Dead Kennedys Punk Humor
Jonathan Swift, Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde . . . Jello Biafra?! The Dead Kennedys’ acerbic frontman deserves to be placed in such rarefied comedic company by virtue of the three-minute satirical missiles he fired off during his band’s reign of…
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Letter from Paris, Part 3: Kissing on Furniture
After kissing on furniture I later learn from Wet is intensely germ-ridden, I followed Antoine up the curving, wrought-iron staircase and out into the street.
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Reading in the New Year
Rumpus Books asked dozens of writers what they’ll be reading on New Year’s Day, 2009. Here’s what they said:
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Letter from Paris, Part 2: Butch Is Beautiful
All I wanted to do in Paris was have an affair, go to the Louvre, and see the catacombs…
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A Rabid Fan of the Novel Revolutionary Road Compares It to the Film
It has come to my attention that you keep adapting my favorite novels [see Atonement, Revolutionary Road, et. al.], and turning them into mediocre movies. Cease and desist! Get your own ideas!
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Going to See the Elephant, by Rodes Fishburne
Going to See the Elephant, the debut novel by Rodes Fishburne, is a paean to newspapering and young love, by a writer whose ambition is worn lightly on his sleeve. It’s a fun book about being young in a new…
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Funny America: THE TOP TEN COMEDIC NEWS STORIES OF 2008
Okay. Just so you know: the Top Ten Comedic News Stories of the Year are as different from the Top Ten Legitimate News Stories of the Year as a tarantula infested banana tree is from a small paper bag of…
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Washington Post Books Editor Steps Down
Marie Arana, the longtime editor of The Washington Post’s Book World is stepping down tomorrow. “For 15 years I have had the privilege and honor
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The Way I Am, by Eminem
Eminem’s memoir, The Way I Am, borrows its title from his 2000 single about the over-the-top trappings of fame, in which he vents: “I’m racin’, I’m pacin’, I stand and I sit/And I’m thankful for every fan that I get/But…
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Letter from Paris: A Twelve Part Blog Mini-Series, Part 1
I’m spending three weeks in Paris, away from the tyranny of American mental health and self-improvement.
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Bad Mommy: A New Blog About Parenting, Kind of, by Kaui Hart Hemmings
An Introduction to Bad Mommy I’m not a bad mother. That title is just a cheap teaser and something to differentiate myself from the mamma masses. It’s interesting. I’m not going to call myself Normal Mommy or Bored Mommy or…
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The Shorty Q&A with Johnathan Hillstrand
“Hell, if I’d jumped on all the dames I’m supposed to have jumped on, I’d have had no time to go fishing.” —Clark Gable