A Mystical Authority Over the Unknown
On a recent visit to Syria, my friend and I eschewed our guidebook as much as possible. In place of this we sought local inspiration, or merely direction, with the…
Rumpus Original
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10/40/70 #20: The Battle of Algiers
This ongoing experiment in film writing freezes a film at 10, 40, and 70 minutes, and keeps the commentary as close to those frames as possible. This week, I examine…
Nothing Can Outlast Its Loss
[Nick Laird's] steps are sure, his undermusic and undercurrents consistently strong. On Purpose is a slim volume that contains multitudes.
Sexual Assault and the Military: An Interview with Staff Sergeant Lisa Rose
Reports of sexual abuse in the military are now higher than that of the civilian population. An annual report released in 2009 by the Department of Defense showed an 11…
First Utterances: On Rick Moody’s The Four Fingers of Death
Oh, man has invented his doom First step was touching the moon – Bob Dylan, “License to Kill”
The Rumpus Interview With Neal Pollack
A year and a half ago, I started practicing yoga because I wasn’t feeling well. I could barely touch my toes and felt very self-conscious in yoga classes, but kept…
Ted Wilson Reviews the World #49
NAMBLA ★★★★★ (1 out of 5) Hello, and welcome to my week-by-week review of everything in the world. Today I am reviewing NAMBLA.
Less Is More
The stories in Mary Hamilton’s very, very short collection are vivid, surreal, experimental, funny, and emotionally devastating.
A Dark, Dark Summer Day: Fahey vs. Hollywood
How much bad Hollywood filmmaking can one man take in a day? With my wife and kids out of town for a week, I decided to find out.
Dead Ahead
Doller’s facility with language, and his wheeling imagination, which pushes language into fresh directions, never ceases to delight the reader.
DEAR SUGAR, The Rumpus Advice Column #47: The Reckoning
Our kids deserve that, don’t they? To be loved shimmeringly? Yes, they do. So let’s get to it.
Serious Men
Manu Joseph’s satirizes contemporary India, “pounding away at the caste system like a pitcher repeatedly throwing his best fastball.”