When I was growing up, my great passion was comedy. Monty Python, National Lampoon, George Carlin, etc. As a kid, I was obsessed with deconstructing humor. I’m not a laugh-out-loud kind of guy (except when I’m humoring a girl on a date). I’m more into appreciating jokes than laughing at them. More than any other person or program, SCTV, in its ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Subscribe to Taki's Magazine for an ad-free experience and help us stand against political correctness.
Join NowSign up to receive posts
