Posts by author
Pat Johnson
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Green Eggs and Maakies Hits Shelves
Tony Millionaire’s book Green Eggs and Maakies is out! Millionaire’s illustrations have appeared in everything from The Believer to the New Yorker, and Maakies even had a small stint on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. For those who haven’t heard of Maakies, it’s essentially a dark comic…
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The Missouri Review Showing us Love!
The Missouri Review recently posted a quote on their Tumblr from our essay, “David Biespiel’s Poetry Wire: The Cynicism Of Mark Edmundson, Or Poetry Is Still Not Dead:” I exaggerate. I oversimplify. I generalize. But there’s no cynicism here. American poetry is a…
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Vintage Photos of First Pride Parades
Maria Popova showcases some classic photos of the first Pride parades around the world. Head over to Brain Pickings and give them a gander!
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Strolling the Streets of Paris
Stroll the streets of Paris with the New Yorker’s Henri Cole in his essay “Street of the Iron Po(e)t.” Cole’s essays often read like poetic journal entries as he discusses his various experiences while living in Paris, such as getting…
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New York through Jack Kerouac’s Eyes
Maria Popova from Brain Pickings takes a look at a chapter titled “New York Scenes” from Kerouac’s 1960 book, Lonesome Traveler. According to Popova, the chapter is “a kind of narrative emotional cartography of Manhattan, woven of fascinating sketches of Gotham’s vibrant…
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Neil Gaiman Prepares for Six-Month “Sabbatical” from Social Media
Don’t be alarmed come January 2014 when Neil Gaiman suddenly stops updating his blog, Twitter, and Facebook page. Gaiman simply needs a vacation from the pervasive and demanding nature of social media so he can focus on other projects. Yes,…
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Henry Miller’s Disgust for Brooklyn
Henry Miller hated Brooklyn almost as passionately as he loved Big Sur and dirty sex. In “Henry Miller, Brooklyn Hater,” Alexander Nazaryan takes a look at Miller’s lifelong contempt for the borough. In a 1975 documentary, Miller refers to Brooklyn as: a…
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Fourteen Hills Release Party!
Fourteen Hills is one of our favorite Bay Area literary journals, and you won’t want to miss their release party for issue 19.2 at 7:00 pm on May 15th, at the Verdi Club. The release party will include readings from past…
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Claire Messud on making friends with Characters
Annasue McCleave from Publishers Weekly suggested during an interview with Claire Messud, “I wouldn’t want to be friends” with Nora, the fiery protagonist in Messud’s new novel, The Woman Upstairs. “[Nora’s] outlook is almost unbearably grim,” continues McCleave. Messud shot back: For heaven’s sake, what kind…
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David Sedaris Writes Speeches for High Schoolers?
As strange as it might sound, according to an article in The Atlantic, American humorist David Sedaris included several vignettes in his new book Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls: Essays, Etc. that he specifically wrote for high school speech competitions called “forensics.”…
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E.B White and the Personal Essay
Brainpickings recent article “E.B. White on Egoism and the Art of the Essay” highlights and explores several timeless passages from Essays of E.B. White. White states: The essayist is a self-liberated man, sustained by the childish belief that everything he thinks…
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The Knife’s new Album Shaking the Habitual
If you haven’t heard The Knife’s new album Shaking the Habitual, we totally recommend giving it a listen. The album experiments with strange organic sounds, sprawling dark ambiance, and playful Swedish synth pop. The Knife is known for gender bending (lowering…