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Category Archives: writing
Great Review of "The Bird Saviors" in Foreword Magazine
So Foreword magazine, which specializes in Indie books, has a great review of my new novel The Bird Saviors, here, and I’ll paste it below: Summer 2012 — ForeWord Review THE BIRD SAVIORS William J. Cobb daringly dips his pen into … Continue reading
Posted in Birding, books, Climate Change, The West, writing
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John Kennedy Toole's "A Confederacy of Dunces" Finally to be Filmed, With Zach Galifianakis playing the Inimitable Ignatius Reilly
So one of the funniest American novels EVER is about to (finally) make it into a film version (in which Hollywood will no doubt muck it up, but so it goes): John Kennedy Toole’s (infamous) A Confederacy of Dunces (1980), … Continue reading
Posted in Art, books, books/film, Film, writing, Zach Galifianakis
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"The Bird Saviors" Wins the Green Book Festival Prize in Fiction
So I admittedly don’t know squat about what the Green Book Festival is, but my publisher entered The Bird Saviors in their contest, and it won the first prize in Fiction, described here. (Take that, Toni Morrison!) And although I … Continue reading
Posted in Birding, books, Climate Change, The West, writing
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Letter From Westcliffe, Colorado—After a Radio Interview in Denver, With a Shout-out to Richard Brautigan's biography "Jubilee Hitchhiker," Plus a Poke at Nick Reding's "Methland"
So yesterday I was in Denver for a radio interview with Irene Rawlings of the Clear Channel, who couldn’t have been nicer. It was relaxed and easy, and quick. The sound booth/studio (whatever they call that little room) reminded me … Continue reading
Posted in books, The West, writing
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On Alex Prud'homme's "The Ripple Effect": Why I Never Wanted to Read This, and Now Can't Put It Down
So I have to confess of all the environmental issues floating around out there—Climate Change, Peak Oil, Fracking hazards, Overpopulation, Resource depletion, General 21st Century Malaise (okay, I added that one)—I’ve been deliberately avoiding reading (or thinking about) the looming … Continue reading
Posted in books, Climate Change, Politics, The West, Water Crisis, writing
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Super Moon Over St. Louis, With Barred Owl Hooting His Heart Out
So tomorrow we embark on the final leg of our semi-annual migration West, and last night in St. Louis we went out to see the notorious Super Moon, only to be serenaded by a Barred Owl (famous for having a … Continue reading
Posted in Birding, Owls, The West, writing
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The Heartland Institute's War on Science, Michael Mann's "The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars," and E.O. Wilson's "The Social Conquest of Earth"
So I’ve been sick the last week with a travel bug, which I suspected I caught in a St. Louis restaurant via an infected cook, a la Gwyneth Paltrow in last year’s bird flu epidemic movie Contagion, but I’m alive … Continue reading
Posted in books/film, Climate Change, The West, writing
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Homage to Horace Greeley: "Go West, Young Man"—With a Sony Nex-7 Camera in Hand
So every year about this time I break camp and head west to Colorado, where I hole up to write and enjoy the mountains. That Horace Greeley quote has stayed with me ever since childhood, and I’m always longing for … Continue reading
Posted in Photography, The West, writing
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Pete Dexter's Great Novel "The Paperboy" Now Coming Out as a Film, Starring Nicole Kidman, No Less, As a Skanky Prison Wife
So I just stumbled across this little gem of good news: Pete Dexter’s knockout novel The Paperboy (1995) has been made into a film, which is about to be shown at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, starring Nicole Kidman, among … Continue reading
Posted in books, books/film, Film, writing
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James Cameron's Metaphor of Climate Change as the 21st Century Iceberg to Our Big Oil Titanic, Plus a Shout-out to E.O. Wilson's new book "The Social Conquest of Earth" and the Coen Brothers classic "Barton Fink"
So I’m not exactly a huge fan of James Cameron films, full of over-the-top razzle-dazzle, some great images (such as the Titanic sinking, rising into the air and all the unfortunate passengers plummeting into the water) but enough bad melodrama … Continue reading
Posted in books, books/film, Climate Change, Film, Politics, The West, writing
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