Rumpus Original
8548 posts
On Sending, and Receiving, Letters
Letter writing is one of those things said to fall under the rubric of “lost art.” Like tango dancing or throwing a knuckleball, whatever semi-vanished pastime we’re getting sentimental about…
Wind and Rain Make No Difference
Guide to Capturing a Plum Blossom could fit neatly into any number of contemporary-sounding categories: hybrid text, art book, lyric essay, etc. It is a book that relies on interdependence…
Please Stop Yelling: An Openly Subjective Review of The Lifespan of a Fact
Essayist John D’Agata and fact-checker Jim Fingal co-wrote a book called The Lifespan of a Fact. I have read every review about the book since. It seems that Lifespan isn’t being reviewed, but…
FUNNY WOMEN #77: Penal Codes
Following the trend of female lawmakers submitting bills to regulate men’s health, we decided to do the same. We are three straight, gay, single, married, white, Cuban, non-practicing Jewish women, which…
Cold-Blooded and Bothered
Ellen Ullman’s throbbing new novel, By Blood, tells the story of an eavesdropping neighbor with a compulsive attention to sound.
DIFFERENT RACISMS: On Jeremy Lin and How the Rules of Racism are Different for Asian Americans
My senior year in Chapel Hill, I finally got up the courage to take a course in Asian American literature. Stupidly, I treated it as a little experiment. As an…
Ted Wilson Reviews the World #128
THE FOXTROT ★★★★★ (4 out of 5) Hello, and welcome to my week-by-week review of everything in the world. Today I am reviewing the foxtrot.
The Alienable Rights of Women
We are having a national debate about abortion, birth control, and reproductive freedom, and men are directing that debate.
The New Gilded Class
Christina Alger’s debut The Darlings follows the Darling family headed by a billionaire financier through the financial crisis. Luckily, these rich people are really screwed up.
LONELY VOICE #18: Kafka the Dad (Part Three of Five Stray Thoughts on Kafka)
In an essay called “The I Without a Self,” W.H. Auden tells us about a rumor “which if true might have occurred in a Kafka story.” That is that Kafka,…
Friendship Addiction
“Friends? Who needs them?” said a Korean friend of mine. “I don’t make friends. I have a wife and a child, that’s enough social life for me.” I was surprised…