Monthly Archives: December 2010

"True Grit" in the True West

So last night I saw the Coen Brothers’ True Grit in the mountain town of Canon City, Colorado, which was at one point in the 1880s the stagecoach stop east of Bighorn Canyon. A Western in a town of the … Continue reading

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Peter Benchley's "Jaws," the Novel, as Toothsome Holiday Reading

One thing good about the holidays, and about being away from home and routine, is Weird Reading. I have a first edition hardback of Peter Benchley’s “Jaws” (1973) on my bookshelf in Colorado, and picked it up to pass the … Continue reading

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Review of The New Yorker's "20 Under 40" Anthology, and a Nod to Holiday Pleasures, of the Guilty Variety

I’m on holiday vacation, offline for the most part, doing all those things one does on holiday, like witness TV programs I generally wouldn’t be caught dead watching, such as anything involving “. . . With the Stars!” in the … Continue reading

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On Chuck Closterman's Zombie Analogy and Stephen Graham Jones's "The Ones That Got Away"

It seems everyone is trying to deconstruct and decode the recent zombie craze, including Gail Collins in the NY Times, who wrote a funny piece about the zombie Congress, and this morning Chuck Closterman has a good(ish) piece in the … Continue reading

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On the New Yorker's "20 Under 40" Anthology: Attack of the Dinner Party Zombies!

So I’ve been swamped with work the last few days, not to mention trying to decide what Christmas presents to give family members who fall into the Seriously Irritating category (Ah, festive cheer!), but I have managed to review The … Continue reading

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