The Mark of Zohran
October 19, 2025
By now we all know that Zohran Mamdani, the New York […]
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi
September 24, 2025
Speaking as I was the other week about Hell, I can […]
Tales from the Vienna Working Class
September 1, 2025
Read online The Café with No Name, by Robert Seethaler […]
New York Times Intellectual Says Higher Education Breeds Nihilists
August 22, 2025
David Brooks has done it again; castigated the left […]
Murder, He Wrote
August 4, 2025
Thickafog by Caleb Mason An Evocative and Literate […]
Artificial Stupidity
July 18, 2025
AI came close to ruining my Monday, rendering a […]
With Friends Like This, Who Needs Enemies?
July 4, 2025
A special Independence day bonus for my loyal readers. […]
What She Did and Didn’t Do
June 20, 2025
Book review of Tell Me What You Did, a novel by Carter […]
All the News that’s Fit to Stream
June 18, 2025
Open in Browser You don’t need a weatherman to know […]
Putting Immigrants on Ice
May 12, 2025
Read Online The other day, agents from ICE rounded up […]
Coming Together but still Apart
April 22, 2025
Thirteen hundred protest rallies flooded across every […]
What Happened Next in America
March 30, 2025
This first installment of a fable contains truth but […]
As Goes Columbia, So Goes the Nation
March 13, 2025
Mahmoud Khalil, a Syrian refugee and pro-Palestinian […]
The Plan to Steal America
March 4, 2025
Jack Ohman / Copyright 2024 Tribune Content Agency […]
Resist While You Still Can
February 16, 2025
“I’m told that we can’t post our way out of […]
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: […]
What the Hell?
September 12, 2025
Photo by Anthony Quintano, from Welcome to Hell World […]
A Passage to Internet’s End
July 24, 2025
An eerily relevant novella and the man behind […]

Category: Essay

The Mark of Zohran

Published by Admin on October 19, 2025

What does Zohran Mamdani want for himself and New York City and how might that change should he win

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Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

Published by Admin on September 24, 2025

Speaking as I was the other week about Hell, I can expect to be in purgatory any minute now. As I have to work fast…

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What the Hell?

Published by Admin on September 12, 2025

Many say we live in hellish times. Let’s unpack what that might signify, as there are conflicting accounts going around as to what qualifies.

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Murder, He Wrote

Published by Admin on August 4, 2025

Review of Thickafog by Caleb Mason
An Evocative and Literate Island Murder Mystery

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A Passage to Internet’s End

Published by Admin on July 24, 2025

The eerily relevant novella The Machine Stops and the man behind it

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Artificial Stupidity

Published by Admin on July 18, 2025

AI came close to ruining my Monday, rendering a consumer product shopping expedition Kafkaesque. It wasn’t funny, but I still might have the last laugh.…

4 Comments

What She Did and Didn’t Do

Published by Admin on June 20, 2025

Book review of Tell Me What You Did, a novel by Carter Wilson (Poison Pen Press 2025, 400+ p.) A chilling psychological thriller that,…

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All the News that’s Fit to Stream

Published by Admin on June 18, 2025

Open in Browser You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows —Bob Dylan, Subterranean Homesick Blues Ah, but when it comes…

2 Comments

Putting Immigrants on Ice

Published by Admin on May 12, 2025

We’re in a new ICE age that is freezing the bejesus out of our constitutional rights

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Coming Together but still Apart

Published by Admin on April 22, 2025

Thirteen hundred protest rallies flooded across every state and ebbed with barely a ripple of notice from the news networks. Easily a million people converged…

1 Comment