Category Archives: Uncategorized

I don’t blog much about TV, in part because it seems I’m so busy that I don’t watch as much tube as I did in past, nonchildcare years. But I’m a big fan of Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, which … Continue reading →

In time for Halloween—Here’s the url to my review of Peter Ackroyd’s new novel, The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein, published yesterday in the Dallas Morning News: www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/books/stories/DN-bk_frankenstein_1025gd.ART.State.Edition1.4bcf98e.html What I mentioned only obliquely: When the “monster” awakens, he immediately begins, um, … Continue reading →

The Hidden Jesus   The electrician did not want to speak. He stared at the ceiling and scratched his muscled forearm, on which was tattooed the name Sarah, with a circle/bar over it. He was here to avoid jail time … Continue reading →

Here’s a url to my review of Victor Lodato’s debut novel, Mathilda Savitch, which appears today in the Dallas Morning News: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/books/stories/DN-bk_mathilda_1018gd.ART.State.Edition1.4bb34ed.html It’s definitely a “voice” novel, in that not a great deal happens, but her voice is charming and … Continue reading →

I’m glad to see that Pete Dexter’s new novel, Spooner, is getting much attention. He’s one of our best. Here’s an article in the NY Times that makes Dexter sound like a likable guy: www.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/books/14dexter.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=books The elephant novel-in-progress sounds good, … Continue reading →

So I feel as clueless as George H.W. Bush marveling at bar codes in the supermarket, but I’ve just seen the trailer for the Coen Brothers new film, A Serious Man, and it looks seriously good: www.moviefone.com/movie/a-serious-man/29878/video/a-serious-man-trailer-no-1/32367210001 Their last film, … Continue reading →

I’ve never thought twice about Gore Vidal. No matter how many times the East Coast literary hype machine tells me he’s an important writer, he’s always seemed a bit of a dinosaur from the Kennedy years. (It’s a tagline with … Continue reading →

Here’s the url to my review of Pete Dexter’s new novel, Spooner, which appears today in the Dallas Morning News: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/books/stories/DN-bk_spooner_0927gd.ART.State.Edition1.4bb3c8d.html It’s a terrific book. For Dexter fans, I’d say it’s my favorite since Deadwood and Paris Trout, vaulting it … Continue reading →

So here’s a url to my short story “The Hidden Jesus,” currently in the new issue of The Hopkins Review (as in Johns-Hopkins University): http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/the_hopkins_review/v002/2.4.cobb.pdf The cemetery mentioned in the story is based on a number of windswept, high-lonesome cemeteries … Continue reading →

Neil Labute is an eviscerating playwright, screenwriter, and now, director, who makes squirmy films that are hard to ignore or look away from. Usually they present the dark side of male bonding and distrust of women, as in In the … Continue reading →