SELF-MADE MAN #6: Observer Bias
I am in a good mood when I meet a woman with a severe, sophisticated haircut for a business lunch on a sunny patio in Back Bay. She asks about…
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Ted Wilson Reviews the World #131
WE BOUGHT A ZOO ★★★★★ (3 out of 5) Hello, and welcome to my week-by-week review of everything in the world. Today I am reviewing We Bought a Zoo.
Plenty Worth Saying, With Very Few Words
Kevin Moffett’s Further Interpretations of Real-Life Events is one of the most delightful collections in recent memory.
Readers Report: Friends with Benefits
A collection of short pieces written by Rumpus readers pertaining to the subject of “Friends with Benefits.”
The Sunday Rumpus Interview with Josip Novakovich
In the mid-1990s I lived in Chicago and became impressed by the vibrant art scene there. New galleries were popping up all over River North, Bucktown, and Wicker Park. Chicago’s…
THE WEEK IN GREED #4: Risk-Free Ratfucking
Dirty tricks work in politics because it is human nature to see the worst of ourselves in others, particularly in those we feel are more powerful than we are.
Thoughts on Letters In The Mail
When I saw the words “This week’s Letter In The Mail is from Sari Botton” at the bottom of Wednesday’s Daily Rumpus email from Stephen Elliott, my stomach dropped.
Met a Lunatic on Craigslist
But even here, vertigo and ambivalence dominate, and I find myself searching the poems for the kinetic energy of a walker in the city; heel marks and muddy droplets. I…
Who Cares When Your Record Was Digitally Remastered?
I’ll admit I’m obsessive about dates in general, and music-related dates most of all. So when I started using the music-streaming service Spotify, I was pleased to see a year…
Modern Retellings
The Flight of Gemma Hardy and Death Comes to Pemberly both attempt to pay homage to nineteenth century novelists, but the translation is not always apt.
Beyond the Measure of Men
Here we are again. In the New York Times Book Review, Meg Wolitzer takes up the matter of “women’s fiction,” in her essay, “The Second Shelf.” She does a fine job…