I won"€™t bother lying. I ran across the absurdly prolific blogger and novelist James LaFond whilst I was mired in the shameful act of Googlebation: typing your own name into Google to see what the hive mind thinks of you today. Hey, I ...

If I could eradicate one sin from the world, I would free writers and journalists from our desire to make a heartfelt splash, and damn the facts. Exaggerated reporting in the service of a hunch is even worse if your hunch has a germ of truth. ...

The Internet is great for finding free couches, but the news cycle to which it is prey"€”horrible act; outrage; more horrible action"€”does nothing for my existential nausea. Massacres erupt, emotional reactions follow, and decent people pound ...

It's not often that a Salon writer produces a lit piece that doesn"€™t make me grunt with rage. Aside from their hysterical loathing for male writers who won"€™t check their man parts at the door, their M.O. for dealing with the type of unwashed ...

Here's a brilliant idea for an anthology: collect essays about the changing face of war and war technology, then alternate them with short stories and novel excerpts from the cutting edge of military-focused sci-fi and fantasy. Riding the Red ...

I’m not interested in winning, but in thinking. I’d rather be perplexed than right. That 12-year-old quote is from a Scottish musician and writer named Nick Currie, whose latest book"€”Herr F., a meditation on the Faust myth that ...

So Michel Houellebecq quit promoting his new book. Instead he's hiding out somewhere in the provinces. Houellebecq, whose name I despise having to spell, is the French satirical novelist who was featured on the last Charlie Hebdo cover before the ...

I can"€™t resist a writing style guide, especially one that promises to be lively. Steven Pinker made his name as a linguistic and cognitive scientist; his 2002 book The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature is a level-headed classic in ...

You can blame the kids, the Internet, pus in the milk, IngSoc English professors, or Ritalin, but 2014 has got to be one of the worst years in letters since the alphabet was invented. Sure, some good books were published, but no one read most of ...

The rigged game of publishing is no less rotten today than on any other, but it's unnatural to be contentious on Christmas. I"€™d rather talk truces. Most readers will have already heard my favorite yuletide tale, but indulge me: who hasn"€™t ...

I"€™m still not sure why half of the French press members who still have enough couilles left to stand up for their national sovereignty and culture seem to be old Jewish book nerds. It might be because your friendly neighborhood ...

I love those sweet, fleeting moments of near-lucidity when the janitors at the mainstream pop-culture echo chamber almost manage to notice how annoying the echo is. Full disclosure: A decade ago I briefly crossed paths with Atlantic arts writer ...