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Recent Posts
- They’re Heeeerrrreee! “The Age of Disclosure” Is a Game-Changer for UFO Aficionados (& All of Us)
- Aliens Among Us: Probing Hillbillies and Freaking Shut-ins, How Netflix’s “Encounters” and Hulu’s “No One Will Save You” Prep Us for the Coming Alien Apocalypse, Kind of
- My Life as a Bob Odenkirk Character: On How Watching Netflix’s Black Mirror episode “Joan Is Awful” Mimicked My Experience of Watching the AMC series Lucky Hank
- “Bobcats, Bobcats, Bobcats”: Animal Life and a Tribute to “Modern Family”
- “The North Water”: This Ain’t Your Daddy’s Moby Dick
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Author Archives: williamjcobb
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
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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
"American Hustle" Kills SuperDud XLVIII
So on Sunday afternoon I went to see American Hustle, which should win the Best Fun Picture category at the Oscars, and after which my wife wryly noted, “I don’t think we saw Amy Adams breasts enough.” (See the film, … Continue reading
Posted in books/film, The West
Tagged American Hustle, Book Reviewing, Film, The West
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Review of Chang-rae Lee's "On Such a Full Sea" in the Dallas Morning News
So my review of Chang-Rae Lee’s new novel, On Such a Full Sea, appears today in the Dallas Morning News, here. It’s a good book, with a soft-spoken, measured narrative voice. Although some might say, “Not another dystopian novel!” I … Continue reading
Whatever You Do, Don't Diss the Social Media! On Roger Cohen's NY Times Op-Ed "Twitter-Bashing Bores"
So I sometimes read Roger Cohen, a columnist in the New York Times, who (sometimes) writes reasonably well about Israel and Europe, but his recent piece titled “Twitter-Bashing Bores” (here) illustrates a media obsession I’ve come to notice: Rabid and … Continue reading
On Alexander Payne's "Nebraska" & a Christmas Without the Internet
So I happened to see the awesome/sad/hilarious film Nebraska, another classic by Alexander Payne, at a swanky art house theater (the Plaza Frontenac) in St. Louis before Christmas, but was unable to post anything about it, as I left the … Continue reading
Posted in Birding, books/film, Film, The West
Tagged Alexander Payne's Nebraska, Christmas, Film, Good Fiction, The West
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My Review of Jim Harrison's "Brown Dog" in the Dallas Morning News
So I’ve been woefully out-of-touch with my blog, my misbegotten red-headed stepchild (with apologies to all ginger stepchildren in the world), but I haven’t been woefully out-of-touch with reading & living, which should always trump blogging. My review of Jim … Continue reading
Posted in books, books/film, Film, The West, writing
Tagged Birding, Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Film, Good Fiction, Jim Harrison, Pete Dexter, The West
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A Postmortem on Dan Brown's "Inferno," and What's That Aron Ralston Dude Up to Now?
So apparently Aron Ralston—the solo rock climber who cut his own arm off when trapped by a boulder, as portrayed in James Franco’s 127 Hours (2010)—has run afoul of the law, to the tune of “domestic violence,” which hopefully did … Continue reading
Posted in Art, books/film, Climate Change
Tagged Book Reviewing, Climate Change, Dan Brown's Inferno, Fiction Writing, The Da Vinci Code, The West
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On Jim Harrison's "Brown Dog" & Park Chan-wook's film "Stoker"
So I feel sorry for my poor blog, to which I don’t give enough attention—like the ignored dog that’s always whimpering to be taken for a walk or the proverbial red-headed stepchild (with apologies to all red heads and stepchildren … Continue reading
Posted in books/film, Horror Films, Nicole Kidman, The West
Tagged Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Jim Harrison, Nicole Kidman, The West
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