- April 2026
- 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
- Review of “DTF St. Louis” Episode 5: David Harbour Deserves an Emmy
- The Year Without a Winter Over, Wildfire Season Begins
- On Pekka Hamalainen’s “Indigenous Continent”: Finnish Historian’s View of Native American History
- The Year Without a Winter Ends: It’s Spring!
- Review “War Machine”: Glimpse Our Future Wars Against Invading Robots
Recent Comments
No comments to show.
Author Archives: williamjcobb
Review of Kent Haruf's "Our Souls at Night" in the Dallas Morning News
So I’m a delayed/recalcitrant blogger at best, but I did review Kent Haruf’s final novel, Our Souls at Night, for the Dallas Morning News recently, and it can be found here. In my defense I can say I’m busy working … Continue reading
Posted in books, The West
Tagged Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, Kent Haruf, The West
Leave a comment
On Kent Haruf's "Our Souls at Night": The Last Waltz in Holt, Colorado
So I felt a mixture of sadness and readerly pleasure upon opening Kent Haruf’s final, posthumous novel, Our Souls at Night, to be published by Knopf this month. I first encountered Haruf’s fiction in 1999, when I was assigned his … Continue reading
Posted in books/film, The West, Uncategorized, writing
Tagged Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, Kent Haruf, The West
Leave a comment
"Dr. WarmLove or: How I Stopped Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Heat"
So I had the odd Flashback Experience of being visited last week by a college roommate I had not seen in twenty years (and we were roomies much longer ago than that, at the University of Texas, in Austin, circa … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, The West, Water Crisis
Tagged Climate Change, Drought, The Bird Saviors, The West
Leave a comment
Chris Nolan's "Interstellar" as Half-Baked Cli-Fi, or What Does Matthew McConaughey Eat in Outer Space? Pretzel Ions?
So I must first confess I’ve never been seduced by the eye-candy of Christopher Nolan’s films: Yes, they’re imaginative, clever, outlandish and topical. I’m all for that. But at some point they tend to turn so “Hollywood” that you have … Continue reading
Posted in books/film, Climate Change, The West
Tagged Book Reviewing, Climate Change, Drought, Interstellar, The Bird Saviors, The West
Leave a comment
On the Bear-Attack Film "Backcountry": Generation D Goes for a Hike
So I’m a sucker for a good bear-attack movie, having backpacked many times in the gorgeous/treacherous wilds of grizzly country (Alaska, Montana, Wyoming), where it’s often said that humans are not the top of the food chain, which can certainly … Continue reading
Posted in Bad TV, Bears, Horror Films, The West
Tagged Backcountry film, Film, Horror Movies, Millennials, The West
Leave a comment
Review of Reif Larsen's "I Am Radar" in the Dallas Morning News
So I’ve neglected this lonely little blog so often I should seriously feel guilty, but . . . I have my reasons. Note that I say I should feel guilty. But I don’t. (Well, maybe just a tad scrap of guilt is swirling around the door … Continue reading
"Necrophilia, Anyone?" On the Horror-Show That Is James Franco's Film Adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "Child of God"
So I’d heard that James Franco had made a film version of Cormac McCarthy’s powerful-and-disturbing novel Child of God (1974), and I casually wondered why I hadn’t heard anything about it. A year ago Franco also did a film version … Continue reading
On the Death of Kent Haruf: One of Our Finest Novelists, and a Friend
So on this snowy morning it’s a sad day to hear of the passing of Kent Haruf, author of Plainsong (1999), Eventide (2004), and Benediction (2013), among others. (For more details, see a piece in the Washington Post, here.) Although I … Continue reading
Posted in books, books/film
Tagged Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, Kent Haruf, Photography, The Bird Saviors, The West
Leave a comment
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