On the surface, The Girls, by Emma Cline, appears to be about a Manson-like figure in Northern California in the 1960s. The leader of a small, communal living group, Russell taught his small group of followers “to discover a path to truth, how to free their real selves from where it was coiled inside them.” The group consists mostly of women, and mostly of young women, who felt that being around Russell was “like a natural high… Like the sun or something. That big and […]
When the night has come
This, perhaps the most quintessential “Stephen King story” ever written, walks that delicate, liminal space between childhood and adolescence. Here lies the age when perfection exists unrecognized. When you have the friends you’ll always carry with you, regardless of later circumstance. This is the age when childhood has reached its apogee: immediately before the confusion of puberty and the discovery of girls. It is a time for unchecked vulgarity, false bravado and posturing, and the constant interplay and co-mingling of imagination and experience, where the […]
Nicholson Flew Over the Place Where Birds Roost
I make a “not bucket list” every year of things I’d like to do in the upcoming year and read/watch “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” made the cut, so it was the perfect thing to tackle during a mini Spring Break-staycation. Randle Patrick McMurphy is a gambling con-man in the 196os who trades a stint on a prison work farm for a stay in an asylum. The men’s only asylum has a rich cast of characters who are battling their own personal demons, but […]
Kickin it on Deathworld
Last year on Pajiba and/or CBR, I asked for fun sci-fi recommendations. Harry Harrison’s Bill, the Galactic Hero series was recommended by more than a couple folks. A quick “Harry Harrison” search on my Kindle revealed this book, instead of Bill. This book was free, so I downloaded it and soaked it up. Deathworld, despite the name, is a fun and thoughtful work of science fiction from the man who brought us Soylent Green. It combines the things that I love most about sci-fi: entertainment, […]
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