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Recent Posts
- Shoshone Lake Paddle Trip Report: Yellowstone National Park, September 2025
- On “Die My Love”: Jennifer Lawrence Channels Her Inner Kristi Noem, and Does Not Write the Great American Novel
- “The Salt Path” (2025): An Underappreciated Film That Includes Actual Humanity
- Our “White Lotus,” Or Life as a Set-Jetter
- On Sleeping With Dogs
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Author Archives: williamjcobb
Snow Drought in Colorado & the I-Told-You-So Problem With Climate Change
So this year’s snowpack is pathetic in Colorado and other points West, which is a harbinger of a further summer drought, as detailed in the New York Times, here. Count me as one of those West lovers who are in … Continue reading
Posted in Climate Change, The West, Uncategorized, Weird Weather
Tagged Climate Change, Drought, The West
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On Reading T.R. Fehrenbach's "Comanches: The Destruction of a People" and Jared Diamond's "The World Until Yesterday": A World Without Laws
So while teaching Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian recently, I learned he’d been inspired by T.R. Fehrenbach’s Comanches: The Destruction of a People (1975), so I picked it up. Suffice to say it was a gripping read, as I had a … Continue reading
Posted in books/film, Cormac McCarthy, The West, Uncategorized
Tagged Book Reviewing, Cormac McCarthy, Good Fiction, The Bird Saviors, The West
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Good Review of "The Bird Saviors" in the San Francisco Book Review, and Eerie Similarities to Alex Prud'homme's "The Ripple Effect" in Recent L.A. Tourist's Death Case
So I’ve been too busy reading/teaching to blog lately, juggling about four books at a time and finishing all of them (more on that later), but had a nice surprise to be told about a good review of The Bird … Continue reading
Posted in books, Climate Change, The West
Tagged Book Reviewing, Climate Change, Drought, The Bird Saviors, The West, Water Crisis
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Life Imitating Art, But Softly: Russian Meteor a Mini-Version of the Fireball That Ends Civilization in Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
So I’ve been teaching Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian (1985) for the last two weeks, although the more I know about the novel, the more I’m struck that it needs an entire semester to cover thoroughly—though if I did that, I … Continue reading
Posted in books/film, Climate Change, Cormac McCarthy, The West
Tagged Book Reviewing, Climate Change, Cormac McCarthy, Good Fiction, The West, Wildfires
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Review of "The Bird Saviors" in the High Country News, and a Literary Find in Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian"
So there’s a nice review of The Bird Saviors in the High Country News (not to be confused with High Times, which is a fuzzy horse of a different color), a great journal about the West, here. I’ve been too … Continue reading
Posted in books/film, Cormac McCarthy, The West
Tagged Book Reviewing, Cormac McCarthy, Good Fiction, The Bird Saviors, The West
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Review of Jared Diamond's "The World Until Yesterday" in the Dallas Morning News
So after a flu relapse that made me resemble one of those dudes on The Walking Dead, I’m struggling to maintain an upright position, and get back on with the business of the Living. Last Sunday I had a review … Continue reading
From the Flu Ward, a Guest Blog Post in The Superstition Review
So I’m still sick with the flu, ugh, or double ugh. If it were any worse I’d be chanting “Brains! Brains!” But I do have a guest blog post today in The Superstition Review, here.
Posted in books, The West, Viruses
Tagged Book Reviewing, The Bird Saviors, The West
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Greetings from Planet Flu, and a Few Thoughts on the Virus in "The Bird Saviors"
So I should say “Greetings, Fellow Flu Victims!” as it seems everyone I know, have ever known, or will know has the flu right now, which is to some extent why I haven’t posted anything in a while. My bout … Continue reading
"Django Unchained": Cloudy With a Chance of Spaghetti Western & Meatballs
So I saw Tarantino’s Django Unchained yesterday—out of curiosity, not out of a being any huge Tarantino fan. (At their best, as in Pulp Fiction, Tarantino’s films are clever and zingy, and at worst—that unwatchable B-movie Grindhouse he made with … Continue reading
Posted in Film, Gun Control, Pete Dexter, The West
Tagged Book Reviewing, Cormac McCarthy, Django Unchained, Film, The West
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