Category Archives: writing

Super Moon Over St. Louis, With Barred Owl Hooting His Heart Out

Posted on May 7, 2012 by williamjcobb

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 | Leave a comment

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"

Posted on May 5, 2012 by williamjcobb

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 | Leave a comment

Homage to Horace Greeley: "Go West, Young Man"—With a Sony Nex-7 Camera in Hand

Posted on April 30, 2012 by williamjcobb

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 | Leave a comment

Pete Dexter's Great Novel "The Paperboy" Now Coming Out as a Film, Starring Nicole Kidman, No Less, As a Skanky Prison Wife

Posted on April 23, 2012 by williamjcobb

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 | Leave a comment

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"

Posted on April 21, 2012 by williamjcobb

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 | Leave a comment

The Birds Are Dying: Or in the National Wildlife Refuge, It Looks Like We Need "The Bird Saviors"

Posted on April 11, 2012 by williamjcobb

So more depressing news in the climate change/Western drought world. It seems that persistent drought conditions are drying up wildlife refuges in California, reported here. My new novel, due out June 21st, is titled The Bird Saviors, and one of … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Climate Change, Politics, The West, Uncategorized, Weird Science, writing | Leave a comment

Review of Noah Hawley's "The Good Father" in the Dallas Morning News

Posted on March 29, 2012 by williamjcobb

So here’s my review of Noah Hawley’s new novel, The Good Father, published Sunday in the Dallas Morning News (click the hyperlink ‘review’). I liked the novel, even if it’s ultimately a downer story, of a father searching for the … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Film, Politics, The West, writing | Leave a comment

Further Reflections on Scenes Cut From the Film Version of Cormac McCarthy's "The Road," Or Films You Wish You Had Seen, and Some You Wish You Had Not

Posted on March 26, 2012 by williamjcobb

So being a diehard Cormac McCarthy fan (and more than just a little bit suspicious), I feel the hand of God or Fate or Providence in the fact that one of my students this semester was an actor (Baby Eater … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Bad TV, books, books/film, Film, The West, writing | Leave a comment

Does Sarah Palin Know Where Germany Is? and a Shout-Out for Mark Leyner's new novel, "The Sugar Frosted Nutsack"

Posted on March 21, 2012 by williamjcobb

So last night I caught HBO’s film Game Change, about Sarah Palin’s (improbable? nightmarish? absurd?) role as John McCain’s veep in the 2008 election, and it’s surprisingly good. Why surprisingly? I’m not a huge fan of biopics/reenactments of contemporary events, … Continue reading →

Posted in books, books/film, Good TV, Politics, writing | Leave a comment