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Recent Posts
- 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
- The Year Without a Winter (in the Southwest): 2025-2026
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Category Archives: books/film
On “Die My Love”: Jennifer Lawrence Channels Her Inner Kristi Noem, and Does Not Write the Great American Novel
So after a lot of pre-release buzz the Jennifer Lawrence film Die My Love fizzled at the box office and did not get much attention. (Note: Minor spoilers ahead.) That’s a bit unfortunate, as it has the terrific performance of … Continue reading
“The Salt Path” (2025): An Underappreciated Film That Includes Actual Humanity
So my wife and I are inveterate backpackers—the seasoned, often bedraggled kind. We’ve backpacked in many locations from Denali National Park in Alaska (perhaps the “wildest” backcountry) to Yellowstone and the Wind Rivers in Wyoming and many others. But truth … Continue reading
Friendly Aliens Who Will Pull Our Plug: On “Pluribus” and “Bugonia”:
So I’m still a skeptic as far as alien visitors are concerned but it seems I’m bumping into extraterrestrial stories whenever I turn on the TV. Following the epic success of Better Call Saul (one of my favorite series of all time) … Continue reading
Posted in Alien Intelligence, Annihilation, books/film, Climate Change
Tagged Film, UFOs
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Shocking Bird Population Decline as in The Bird Saviors
So for years I’ve been reading about and studying Climate Change (though I do find Global Weirding to be witty and accurate), for various reasons, some of them personal of course: I have a daughter who will live in this … Continue reading
Posted in Birding, books/film, Climate Change, The West, writing
Tagged Birding, Climate Change, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, The Bird Saviors, The West, Wildfires
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Herman Wouk Died at Age 104: His Novel, "The Winds of War," Is Relevant Today
So I keep meaning to get back to my blog, but one thing or another always intrudes: new stories and chapters to write (a new story titled “The Wall” will soon appear in The Antioch Review), grass to mow (Thursday), … Continue reading
Posted in books, books/film
Tagged Book Reviewing, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, Herman Wouk's The Winds of War
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Imagining Storm & Fire: Hurricane Harvey, "Goodnight Texas," and The Prediction of Fiction
So a year ago, on August 24th-25th, Hurricane Harvey crashed into the Texas coast, roughly equaling, in monetary damage, the destruction of Hurricane Katrina back in 2005. Based on my novel Goodnight, Texas, you could say I predicted it: I … Continue reading
Posted in books, books/film, Climate Change, The West
Tagged Book Reviewing, Climate Change, Cormac McCarthy, Fiction Writing, Good Fiction, Goodnight Texas
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On the Film "Annihilation": "Stranger Things" Meets "Arrival" on Acid
So I’ve been seeing a slew of films lately, including The Shape of Water (much fun, including weird fish-man sex) and The Florida Project—which deserves a post of its own—as well as Gary Oldman’s magnificent work of scenery-chewing, The Darkest Hour, … Continue reading
Posted in Annihilation, books/film, Cryptozoology, Florida films, Horror Films
Tagged Annihilation film, Film, Florida films, Horror Movies
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Review of Francisco Cantu's Memoir "The Line Becomes a River" in the Dallas Morning News
So my review of Francisco Cantu’s The Line Becomes a River, a memoir about his experience working as a Border Patrol Agent, appears in the Dallas Morning News today, and can be found here. It’s a good book, thoughtful and … Continue reading
On Why I Read Dan Brown's "Origin": Or My Adventures as a Consumer of Best-Selling Drivel
So I was recently having dinner with a best-selling writer—a bit of literary socializing before said writer gave a reading on our campus—and we had reached the point of small-talk detailing what books we’d been reading. This is often the … Continue reading