- March 2026
- February 2026
- January 2026
- November 2025
- October 2023
- September 2023
- September 2021
- April 2020
- September 2019
- May 2019
- August 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- October 2017
- August 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- November 2016
- October 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- December 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- May 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
Recent Posts
- On Maggie Gylenhaal’s “The Bride”: Bonnie & Clyde in Stitches
- On George Saunders’ New Novel “Vigil”: Jumping the Shark Across the Heavens
- On HBO’s New Series “DTF St. Louis”: Charm & Glory of the Mundane
- On “Dr. Strangelove” 62 Years Later: General Jack Ripper in Charge Now
- On Tom Waits in “Father Mother Sister Brother”: Grifter Like Me
Recent Comments
No comments to show.
Author Archives: williamjcobb
The Heat Is On: Melting Santas and Family Values in the Era of Climate Change
So I haven’t blogged in—oh, just about forever (over two months)—but I’ve been fine and dandy, thank you very much, and trying to keep my ducks in a row: Besides being a professor, and all that entails, mainly I’ve been … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, The West
Tagged Climate Change, Drought, Photography, The Bird Saviors, The West, Water Crisis, Wildfires
Leave a comment
Review of "The Lousy Adult" Alongside Stephen Graham Jones's "Not For Nothing"
So the Dallas Morning News published this last Sunday a review of several books by (ex or present) Texas writers and my book of stories The Lousy Adult was one of those mentioned, but the cooler thing is that it’s … Continue reading
Posted in books, The West, Uncategorized, writing
Tagged Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, Stephen Graham Jones, The Lousy Adult
Leave a comment
Review of Malcolm Brooks's debut novel "Painted Horses," and What I've Been Up to All This Time
So I feel bad for my uncared-for little blog here, languishing away as I rush about in my busy life, never finding time to nurture, as they say. It’s like the freckled orphan in the corner, who you notice now … Continue reading
Posted in books/film, The West
Tagged Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, The West
Leave a comment
Review of Peter Heller's "The Painter" in the Dallas Morning News
So here’s my review of Peter Heller’s new novel, The Painter, today in the Dallas Morning News, here. It’s a good book, and I’ll have more to say about it this week, but for now I’ll let this review speak. … Continue reading
Posted in books, The West
Tagged Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, Peter Heller, The West
Leave a comment
Melting Ice Caps v. The In-Laws, With a Derisive Sneer at Marco Rubio
So I haven’t written much about Climate Change in a while (and in fact haven’t blogged, due to the hectic rush at the end of the term, but that’s over with, thank god) and here comes a batch of bad … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, Politics, The West
Tagged Climate Change, Politics, The West
Leave a comment
My Dashcam, My Selfie: On Sherry Turkle's Assertion in "Alone Together" That We're All Cyborgs Now
So I enjoyed this insight into the Digital Age in Sherry Turkle’s Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other (2011): “We are all cyborgs now” (274, ebook edition). She goes on to explain the … Continue reading
Posted in books
Tagged Book Reviewing, Digital Distraction, Photography, Sherry Turkle's Alone Together
Leave a comment
On Sherry Turkle's "Alone Together" and How I Sleep With Stuffed Animals, Not Furbies, As They Make All That Noise When You Roll Over in the Night
So in my (not-yet-ended) quest to get to the bottom of this whole “digital distraction” thing, I’m now reading Sherry Turkle’s Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other (I mean, with a feel-good title … Continue reading
Posted in books, books/film, Education
Tagged Book Reviewing, Digital Distraction, Sherry Turkle's Alone Together
Leave a comment
On Mark Bauerlein's "The Dumbest Generation" and Teaching to the Intellectually Challenged
So this little gem is priceless, coming from one of our last somewhat-intellectual news outlets, The New York Times: a media writer describing how he doesn’t read anymore, and seems happy (or Post-Shame, at least) to do nothing but watch TV … Continue reading
Posted in Bad TV, books/film, Cormac McCarthy, The West, writing
Tagged Book Reviewing, The Dumbest Generation
Leave a comment
On "The Wolf of Wall Street," the Disappointment Curse of Our Overhyped World, and a New Movement Called "LifeFirst!"
So for weeks I’ve been reading about how good Leo DiCaprio/Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street is (Best Picture nominee!) and a couple weeks ago I finally managed to watch it. I was excited at first, being a Leo … Continue reading
On Running the Austin, Texas Marathon at Age 56: a Survivor's Story!
So I like how everything has become a “survivor’s story” now, even the most humdrum of accomplishments, like “I stood in line for three hours to get tickets to the Lady Gaga concert, and I survived!” Now running a marathon … Continue reading