Fire Sale
January 14, 2025
Greater Los Angeles is reeling from conflagrations […]
How I’m Doing: What’s Your Social Credit Score?
December 11, 2024
As 2024 finishes its dismal performance, I don’t […]
Teach What You Know, Learn What You Don’t
November 17, 2024
Say you want to start a second career as a teacher. […]
There Goes the Neighborhood
October 15, 2024
I’ve been enjoying a novel by Brit Matt Haig […]
A Bumpy Ride on the Orient Express
October 5, 2024
Book Review Last Train to Istanbul Ayşe Kulin John W. […]
Pit Bulls and Barbecue Pits (newsletter)
July 22, 2024
As I wrote this on Sunday, Joe Biden pulled out, […]
Lost and Found Memories
June 30, 2024
The Father She Went to Find: A novel by Carter Wilson […]
On Persistence of Memory (newsletter)
June 28, 2024
This month I’ve turned to memoir to recount […]
Love and Revolution in Iran
June 2, 2024
Half a Cup of Sand and Sky, by Nadine Bjursten (book […]
On Losing Our Senses
May 27, 2024
This month’s offering is on the longish side, so my […]
Guest Post: How to Write About Palestine
April 24, 2024
When I published “What Does ‘I support […]
Books Don’t Sell Themselves
March 24, 2024
The Writing Was the Fun Part This is the first Perfidy […]
What me worry?
February 24, 2024
Dear Readers, I had hoped to send this letter out from […]
Word Games
January 19, 2024
Attention Readers Expect a change in […]
A Slave to the Machine (newsletter)
December 13, 2023
[Nothing to say about Gaza this time around, to your […]
On Cats, Catastrophe, and Caregivers
November 16, 2023
I feel guilty for allowing a pet to die, but not as […]
What Does “I Support Israel” mean?
October 17, 2023
A word about endangered books: There’s been a […]
Why Unions Matter
September 17, 2023
Let’s talk about what’s behind rising […]
Nothing Special, just Life as We Know It
August 18, 2023
Dear Readers, This month, no august pronouncements, […]
The Manichean Candidate (Newsletter)
July 26, 2023
Named after a third-century Persian prophet named […]
Ephemera Are Us (Newsletter)
April 19, 2023
This is a story about why technological innovation […]
How the Empire Thinks (Bulletin)
April 6, 2023
Dear Readers, Just a quickie to tide you over while I […]
The State of the Onion (Newsletter)
February 25, 2023
Today would have been my mother’s 113th […]
Wringing Out the Old Year (Newsletter)
January 4, 2023
Dear Readers, Light rain has fallen all day here in […]
With a little Help from my Friends (newsletter)
November 15, 2022
I’m afraid another month blew by without saying […]
A House by the Side of the Road (Newsletter)
September 17, 2022
My apologies for not writing in August. Not only was […]
Why the Revolution Will Not Be Televised (newsletter)
July 9, 2022
Thanks to having our offer on a house accepted, June […]
Six Random Days in May (newsletter)
May 24, 2022
This month’s assorted provocations include […]
On Making Literary Connections (newsletter)
April 22, 2022
Before I forget, Saturday 4/30 is Indie Bookstore day. […]
On Conflict in Ukraine and in Two War Stories (Newsletter)
March 13, 2022
This month’s topical commentary comes with a […]
The Serpent Papers: A Novel by Jeff Schnader
March 4, 2022
Though I’ve never met Jeff Schnader, we […]
On Making Black and Other Lives Materially Matter (newsletter)
February 16, 2022
Celebrating Black History Month reminds one that, like […]
Becoming a Bookseller to Beat the Odds (newsletter)
January 18, 2022
December flew by with no opportunity to write to you, […]
“The freedom and exhilaration of moral insensibility” (Newsletter)
October 25, 2021
This is a difficult subject, but recently it’s […]
The “Beautiful Madness” that is Exarcheia (newsletter)
September 10, 2021
“The walls here are like a daily newspaper, trying to […]
Bringing Home the Bacon (newsletter)
August 19, 2021
Uncooked meaty bacon, courtesy of Science Meets Food […]
It’s Only Money (newsletter)
August 19, 2021
Dear Friends, How’s your summer panning out so far, […]
Masters of Florid(ian) Political Prose (newsletter)
June 4, 2021
These are tough times for political progressives in […]
A Penny for Your Ism (newsletter)
May 20, 2021
Thanks to continuing official outrages against People […]
The Gripes of Roth (newsletter)
April 5, 2021
Dear Readers, Tomorrow, I’ve recently learned, […]
Random Notes of the Season (newsletter)
March 23, 2021
Hi Everybody, Spring has sprung, the crocuses are in […]
Getting the Better of a Protagonist and Vice Versa (newsletter)
February 19, 2021
It saddened me greatly when my principal muse David […]
Looking Behind and Beyond the Sacking of the Capitol
January 9, 2021
I gave up making predictions of the coming year some […]
One Day in Istanbul, the Star of Elliot Ackerman’s Newest Novel
July 7, 2020
A review of Red Dress in Black and White by Elliot […]
The “Flag Girl” Stumbles but Never Flags
January 6, 2020
Liar’s Candle, a novel by August Thomas, New York: […]
Unstuck in Time
September 18, 2024
This month, more about my relationship with what I […]
Now Available: “Her Own Devices”
September 4, 2024
Dear Readers, I’m proud announce that on […]
How to Counter Online Surveillance (newsletter)
August 9, 2024
We all know that Google, Meta, and other social media […]

Category: Writing

Fire Sale

Published by Admin on January 14, 2025

Greater Los Angeles is reeling from conflagrations that rival the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly 3.3 square miles…

Leave a Comment

How I’m Doing: What’s Your Social Credit Score?

Published by Admin on December 11, 2024

As 2024 finishes its dismal performance, I don’t have any special message for this festive season other than to enjoy your holidaze and remember those…

Leave a Comment

Teach What You Know, Learn What You Don’t

Published by Admin on November 17, 2024

Say you want to start a second career as a teacher. You might make a little money teaching adult education courses. You might even work…

1 Comment

There Goes the Neighborhood

Published by Admin on October 15, 2024

I’ve been enjoying a novel by Brit Matt Haig that takes place in Ibiza, a picturesque Mediterranean island ruled by Spain (Pop 132,000, Tourist Beds…

Leave a Comment

A Bumpy Ride on the Orient Express

Published by Admin on October 5, 2024

Book Review Last Train to Istanbul Ayşe Kulin John W. Baker, tr Amazon Crossing 2013 382 pp. ISBN 9781477807613 Ayşe Kulin is a distinguished, best-selling…

Leave a Comment

Unstuck in Time

Published by Admin on September 18, 2024

This month, more about my relationship with what I call digitalia, the assortment of devices and software and networks that have infiltrated my and your…

Leave a Comment

Now Available: “Her Own Devices”

Published by Admin on September 4, 2024

Dear Readers, I’m proud announce that on September 1st Guernica Editions officially released its fall catalog, featuring my novel Her Own Devices: A novel or…

Leave a Comment

How to Counter Online Surveillance (newsletter)

Published by Admin on August 9, 2024

We all know that Google, Meta, and other social media harvest and monetize every click we make on their sites. Google is particularly worrisome because…

Leave a Comment

Pit Bulls and Barbecue Pits (newsletter)

Published by Admin on July 22, 2024

As I wrote this on Sunday, Joe Biden pulled out, immediately causing the commentariat to suck all the oxygen from the mediasphere. (NPR binged on…

Leave a Comment

Lost and Found Memories

Published by Admin on June 30, 2024

The Father She Went to Find: A novel by Carter Wilson Book review by Geoffrey Dutton Poisoned Pen Press April 02, 2024 448 pages Paperback…

Leave a Comment