“If there were any doubts left about the graphic novel as a serious medium, Black Hole should dispel them.” Independent “Visually, it's one of the most stunning graphic novels yet published….Black Hole may be the most Freudian graphic novel you will ever read.” TIME “The Best Graphic Novel of the Year…One of the Most Stunning Graphic Novels Yet Published.” TIME (again) “Black Hole is Burns’ masterwork.” The New York Times Book Review “Surreal and Unnerving…A Remarkable Work” … [Read more...] about A Black Hole
Modern Society
Yes, I Really Did Read Twilight
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,thou shalt not eat of it:for in the day that thou eatest thereofthou shalt surely die.As everyone knows, that quotation is the epigraph in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight. You might have also heard that the author of Genesis used it. Yes, I recently read Twilight. The whole thing. Every single word. I know you are eagerly awaiting my evaluation (what could it be?), but first a word of explanation. Why did I read this book? I had a reading … [Read more...] about Yes, I Really Did Read Twilight
Remembering to the Ending of the World
From this day to the ending of the world,But we in it shall be rememberèd—We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;For he to-day that sheds his blood with meShall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,This day shall gentle his condition;And gentlemen in England now a-bedShall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaksThat fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day. Admiral William McRaven was not a-bed. Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations … [Read more...] about Remembering to the Ending of the World
Is It OK to Laugh?
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is unquestionably a Masterpiece.One measure of how great it is: Neil Gaiman wrote an issue of Sandman that took the play, morphed it into something that worked seamlessly into the world of Dream, and then that issue of a comic book won the World Fantasy Award for Best Short Story of the year. (After this happened, the organization that gives out the award immediately changed the rules of the award to prohibit comic books from ever winning again. It is apparently … [Read more...] about Is It OK to Laugh?
Feeling Vulnerable
“We live in a vulnerable society.”That is a recurring refrain in Henning Mankell’s Firewall. Mankell is a Swedish writer of mystery novels, most of which feature Detective Kurt Wallander. You know Wallander is cool because in the BBC version he is played by Kenneth Branagh. The 10 or so (depending on how you count them) Wallander novels are really good books in the Police Procedural type of mystery story. (These are not the whodunit novels perfected by Agatha Christie. Instead, you watch … [Read more...] about Feeling Vulnerable
Can Social Conservatives and Libertarians Still Be Friends?
On May 4th, American Compass was launched with “A Note of Introduction” declaring, “Our mission is to restore an economic consensus that emphasizes the importance of family, community, and industry to the nation’s liberty and prosperity.” What followed was a remarkably anodyne discussion of the desire to be a flagship, “creating and nurturing connections between people, facilitating communication among them, and shaping a common identity understandable to the outside world.” There is very … [Read more...] about Can Social Conservatives and Libertarians Still Be Friends?