Chris Barsanti's Blog, page 122
August 7, 2016
Writer’s Desk: Keillor’s Influences
Garrison Keillor was born this day back in 1942, so happy birthday to the great Minnesota raconteur, poet, and all-around celebrator of the written word.
A few years back, a young writer sent a letter to Keillor asking for advice, what were his influences, and so on. Keillor’s response:
What influenced my writing was the King James Bible and the New Yorker magazine and which was the bigger influence, I’m not sure.
August 6, 2016
Reader’s Corner: ‘You Will Know Me’
One of the finest American crime and noir novelists working today, Megan Abbott specializes in tales of domestic unease that stick with you long after the book is done. She’s been getting plaudits from the likes of Paula Hawkins and James Ellroy. Her latest,You Will Know Me, a suburban murder melodrama, was just released and looks like it might be the biggest hit of Abbott’s career.
My review is atPopMatters:
You Will Know Me is an emotionally grisly mystery story where the crime was committ...
August 5, 2016
Weekend Reading: August 5, 2016
August 4, 2016
Screening Room: ‘Richard Linklater – Dream is Destiny’
Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke in Linklater’s ‘Before Midnight’ (2013)
In 1991, Richard Linklater helped blow open the American indie filmmaking scene withSlacker, his rambling odyssey of drifters and dreamers on the edge inAustin, Texas. Since then, he’s made everything from high school party films (Dazed and Confused) to modern romances (the Beforetrilogy).
Richard Linklater – Dream is Destiny opens this week in limited release. My review is atFilm Journal International:
It almost seems wrong...
August 3, 2016
Screening Room: ‘The Childhood of a Leader’
In Brady Corbet’s debut film, an American diplomat in France at the end of World War I and his wife watch their son turn from spoiled brat into something far more sinister.
The Childhood of a Leader is playing now in limited release; check it out. My review is atPopMatters:
What if the greatest conflagration in modern human history was sparked not by grander forces but by the whims of one or more determined psychopaths? That’s the nerve-rattling, if hard-to-swallow, idea advanced by The Chil...
August 2, 2016
Quote of the Day: Trump Say Newspaper Bad
Writers, take note: A certain presidential candidate opined today on an apparent lack of standards over at the paper of record.
According to Politico:
They don’t write good. They have people over there, like Maggie Haberman and others, they don’t — they don’t write good,” he said. “They don’t know how to write good.
We are sure that the tiny-fingered tycoon meant to say, “They don’t writewell.”
July 31, 2016
Writer’s Desk: Jack London
Jack London on how to write when you just aren’t in the mood:
You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.
So, no waiting for the Muses to whisper softly in your ear, then.
July 30, 2016
Readers’ Corner: Books of the Convention
During Chelsea Clinton’s speech at the Democratic convention on Thursday night, she peppered her recollections of childhood in the Clinton family with a couple pointed references to books. In addition to the expected childhood classics (Goodnight, Moon) she singled out a certain novelby Madeline L’Engle:
Growing up, conversations around the dinner table always started with what I learned in school that day. I remember one week talking incessantly about a book that had captured my imagination,...
July 29, 2016
Quote of the Convention: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Hillary Clinton (State Department) with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (NBA) in 2012
This is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar introducing himself at the Democratic convention last night:
Hello, everyone. I’m Michael Jordan, and I’m here with Hillary.I said that because I know that Donald Trump couldn’t tell the difference.
Side note: Abdul-Jabbar has done some writing since he left the NBA. Among the books to his name isMycroft Holmes, a Sherlock Holmes novel he co-wrote with Anna Waterhouse. Abdul-Jabbar has been...
Weekend Reading: July 29, 2016
