Starting next week, I’ll be teaching leading gathering an informal online class on the past and present of the Gothic aesthetic and outlook. Participation is free! All the details are here: http://www.gothicfunkpress.com/blog/get-gothic-in-2014/.… Read the rest
Get Gothic with Gothic Funk Press Read More »
I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE THINKING: You’re thinking “I want to read a novel by chronically underrated gothic novelist Ann Radcliffe, but I don’t know which one I should read read? If only my general familiarity with the work of Led Zeppelin could somehow help me answer this question!”… Read the rest
Ann Radcliffe = Led Zeppelin Read More »
When I read Thanksgiving for Werewolves, M.L. Kennedy‘s forthcoming short-story collection, I think of Dashiell Hammett. I mean, when I read about Kennedy’s pro-wrestling heroes, I think of Hammett’s chain-smoking private eyes. I mean… well, they both drink a lot of coffee.… Read the rest
Review: Thanksgiving for Werewolves, by M.L. Kennedy Read More »
I just finished writing an email to my sister about that most essential of subjects: films inspired by the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.
(To clarify, I’ve been more-or-less homebound this month, and haven’t seen Desolation of Smaug yet; please consider these comments directed toward An Unexpected Journey).… Read the rest
Why The Two Towers Disappointed Me, and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Did Not Read More »
Early this morning I couldn’t sleep, so I drove out to Gillie’s Coney Island just north of Flint to finish reading Edward McClelland’s engrossing book Nothin’ but Blue Skies: The Heyday, Hard Times, and Hopes of America’s Industrial Heartland.… Read the rest
Review: Nothin’ but Blue Skies, by Edward McClelland Read More »
Haha! I meant to post these comments a couple months ago… well, better late than never.
Last summer, as an introduction to the Sword and Sorcery genre, I read a collection of Robert Howard’s seminal Conan stories, compiled in The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian.… Read the rest
Observations on Ill-Met in Lankhmar (anthology), by Fritz Leiber Read More »
People seem to have largely made up their minds about Baz Luhrmann one way or the other (and I am not exempt) so I’m not exactly expecting to win any hearts and minds here. I thought that The Great Gatsby was splendid, muscular, poignant, and authentic.… Read the rest
Film Review: The Great Gatsby (2013) Read More »
I can think of two types of person that might enjoy this book. People who don’t live in Flint and want to understand the place, and people who do live in Flint and want to understand how people on the outside see our fair city.… Read the rest
Teardown, by Gordon Young Read More »
This is correspondence related to my summer Epic Fantasy reading project. Notes and comments are informal:
I know… that our main focus this summer is the sweeping, epic “high fantasy,” but I wanted at least a basic understanding of “low fantasy” Sword and Sorcery, and Howard is consider to be its founding father.… Read the rest
Observations of The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, by Robert E. Howard Read More »