In a country that continues to be the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today, three new books grapple with what our nation’s war apparatus has wrought in our names. They attempt to figure how such acts have, with an air of permanence, seized our national imagination.
Notes for an Essay on Benjamin Lytal’s A MAP OF TULSA
Start the actual discussion by describing just how Lytal’s book winds around the not-so-wild Midwestern world of the author’s hometown. Note that the plot, too, concerns a homecoming. (Try to avoid using commas like table salt.)
A Person to Whom Certain Things Happened
Rachel Kushner’s THE FLAMETHROWERS has kindled sincere discussions in our literary press about the Great American Novel, but few critics have offered an interpretation. If it’s such a great novel, then what does it tell us?
Few writers carry language closer to the heart of their fiction than Diego Marani. In his work it assumes a central role, actually becoming character, story, and even setting.
Three Pieces of Duck Dynasty Fan Fiction to Look Into
Like drops of dew, these Duck Dynasty inspired pieces glisten at the window of my reading glasses, casting rainbows into the living room of my brain.
Boyun Eğme // Don’t Bend Your Neck
I don’t know what’s going to happen to Gezi Park, to Istanbul, to Turkey, and I don’t know where I’ll be when whatever happens does, but it would be a shame to know that I lived in Istanbul for the protests in 2013 but missed out on revolution-köfte.
Full Stop Recommends (June, 2013 Pt. II)
Full Stop recommends some love and war.
Full Stop Recommends (June, 2013 Pt. I)
Full Stop recommends two big ballads, a sex cult, and getting out of your head.
WRECK-IT RALPH: a Primer for Dads on Smashing Patriarchy
There is no ideal world for a person that pre-exists one’s participation in creating it. But here’s what Ralph and I can do: hurl our fumbling selves against the world. Smash it up real good.
Richard Dawkins and the Ascent of Madness
Wander too far down the path of rationalist dogma and it’ll be no surprise if you end up like Richard Dawkins, sunning his genitals in a world that no longer makes any sense.