Lev Raphael's Blog, page 23

Literary Novelist Trashes Romances

Curtis Sittenfeld has been getting beaten up by romance writers and readers because she's been quoted as saying that most romance novels are badly written.

This may be a Publicity 101 attempt to get attention for her own forthcoming update of Pride and Prejudice: Say something controversial about a whole genre and you might get lots of coverage. That's worked for far more famous authors like Isabel Allende venturing into genre fiction.

Was she possibly thinking of Theodore Sturgeon when he...

HBO and Sexual Harassment

I had just published my first book and was getting my writing career started back in 1991, but it ground to a halt while I watched the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas hearings, dumbfounded like so many other people across the country. That's all I remember thinking and talking about day after day.

I never doubted that she was telling the truth. I'm married to a psychologist and had studied the psychology of affect (emotion). Everything about her face and voice convinced me that she couldn't be...

How Bernie Might Help Hillary Win

In all the media hype about the two candidates that casts them as boxers rather than politicians, few pundits mention that Bernie Sanders has helped Hillary Clinton enormously

He's made her a much better candidate.

Watching last night's debate, I thought she was stronger than she's ever been this primary season. That's thanks to having an opponent who's inspiring, draws huge crowds, brings new voters into the primaries, and has raised an issue that's been America's dirty secret for way too...

How Bernie Will Help Hillary Win

In all the media hype about the two candidates that casts them as boxers rather than politicians, few pundits mention that Bernie Sanders has helped Hillary Sanders enormously

He's made her a better candidate.

Watching last night's debate, I thought she was stronger than she's ever been this primary season. That's thanks to having an opponent who's inspiring, draws huge crowds, brings new voters into the primaries, and has raised an issue that's been America's dirty secret for way too long:...

John Kasich: Bigot or Bully?

John Kasich met with some Orthodox Jews in New York and tried to teach them about Judaism.

He rudely and contemptuously insisted that the story of the Jews is more about God's covenant with Abraham than it is about God's relationship with Moses or Moses with the Jews.

Kasich had to be reminded that Jews talk about the Laws of Moses. And even non-Jews use the terms Mosaic Code, Mosaic Law.

But he dismissed all that.



So where does Kasich think the Ten Commandments came from? Did Abraham d...

Fear The Walking Dud

Last year I was really looking forward to Fear The Walking Dead. The creators said they didn't want to produce a clone of The Walking Dead. It was going to be set in Los Angeles and months before the outbreak had spread so widely.

That city is a great setting for disaster: think of Volcano, 2012, Independence Day, and Terminator 2.

The producers also promised less gore and I was down with that. After 27 seasons of The Walking Dead, I wasn't that thrilled anymore by growling, grunting, rasp...

The Danish Girl is a Dazzling Novel

When I see a movie that's utterly satisfying and is based on a novel, I often don't bother reading the book.

I was so moved by Eddie Redmayne's performance in The Danish Girl, so taken by every aspect of the film that I once again thought I wouldn't have to go back to the source. He was so fragile and tormented, so full of despair and hope, the story was so well-told--what would be the point?



But then I sampled the novel and was hooked.

That's first of all because the author does an ama...

Sanders Was Wrong About Clinton

I've had a Bernie Sanders lawn sign for over a year because I thought he was a much better candidate for President than Clinton in many ways, but what the Senator said about Hillary Clinton being "unqualified" to be President is flat-out disgraceful.



Yes, she voted for the Iraq War based on the same intelligence that other Democrats read as not warranting acquiescence to George Bush's wild war fever. Yes, she's supported trade deals that have been damaging for American workers and industri...

Sanders Must Apologize

I've had a Bernie Sanders lawn sign for over a year, but what the Senator said about Hillary Clinton being unqualified to be President is flat-out disgraceful.



Yes, she voted for the Iraq War on the same intelligence that other Democrats read as not warranting acquiescence to George Bush's war fever.

Yes, she's supported trade deals that have been damaging for American workers and induistries.

Yes, she's taken millions of dollars of donations from Wall Street.



But none of that is abou...

More Diversity For Michigan Book Award?

I recently blogged about a serious gap in the history of the Michigan Notable Book Awards.

These awards have been sponsored by the Library of Michigan since 2004, but go back almost 25 years. Each year judges pick 20 Notable Michigan books "reflective of Michigan's diverse ethnic, historical, literary, and cultural experience."



But there've been limits to that diversity.

There haven't been any books with major LGBT content among the books annually celebrated and publicized statewide. Th...