Author Archives: williamjcobb

New Movie “Fuze” Echoes Classic “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” (1974)

Posted on May 31, 2026 by williamjcobb

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) is one of the movies that defines the Seventies image of New York City, and Fuze does the same thing for London in the 2020s. Continue reading →

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Who’s the Killer? The Nonlinear Charms of “Strange Darling” 

Posted on May 24, 2026 by williamjcobb

It’s not a matter of seeing is believing. It’s a matter of what you see can’t be understood without the linearity of what came before. Continue reading →

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The Novel That Predicted Trump’s ‘Fascism for Dummies’: On Sinclair Lewis’s 1935 Bestseller “It Can’t Happen Here”

Posted on May 22, 2026 by williamjcobb

Imagine 1984 narrated by Andy Griffith.  Continue reading →

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“The Sandblaster”: A New Short Story by William J. Cobb

Posted on May 19, 2026 by williamjcobb

I was working as a sandblaster on the coast of Texas, at an industrial park right off the Intracoastal Canal. A wasteland of bulldozers and cranes. Stacks of rusty metal pipes. A few scraggly palm trees, no grass, house or town within miles. That’s where I found her. Continue reading →

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Review of “Project Hail Mary”: Ryan Gosling as Space Cowboy

Posted on May 12, 2026 by williamjcobb

“It’s E.T. meets 2001 meets Contact meets Arrival meets Wall-E”—with a healthy dose of Steven Spielbergian moments, most in outer space. Continue reading →

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Review of “Widow’s Bay”: Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Go in the Water Again . . . .”

Posted on May 10, 2026 by williamjcobb

It’s something of a mashup satire of horror/disaster movies, with pointed references to such classics as Jaws, The Fog, and many others.  Continue reading →

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On the Demise of Texas Summer Camps and a Remembrance of Hells Past: It Wasn’t “Meatballs” or Camp Mystic

Posted on May 5, 2026 by williamjcobb

Although we played sports and had cookouts and ate hot dogs, it was less like Bill Murray’s iconic Meatballs (1979) and more like Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket (1987). More like Boot Camp than Summer Camp. Continue reading →

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Ran the Pittsburgh Half-Marathon Today!

Posted on May 3, 2026 by williamjcobb

The real treat this year: My daughter, Liliana, ran the Half-Marathon with me. She didn’t think she was going to make it and did great! Continue reading →

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Review of “Dragonfly”: Chronicle of Broken Britain Packs a Punch

Posted on May 2, 2026 by williamjcobb

In “Dragonfly” the lives of Colleen and Elsie are heartbreaking but they seem real. Continue reading →

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Review of Paul Andrew Hutton’s “The Apache Wars”: Historical Origins of Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian” (1986)

Posted on April 27, 2026 by williamjcobb

Hutton’s The Apache Wars, a nonfiction work, provides great context and understanding to this era, and reinforces the visions of Cormac McCarthy.  Continue reading →

Posted in Cormac McCarthy novels, History of the Southwest, Native American History, The West | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment