Chris Barsanti's Blog, page 61
June 7, 2020
Writer’s Corner: Maintain Momentum
Waiting for inspiration is no way to write. One has to have a routine. Granted, that routine is likely to be a messy one. Take Lionel Shriver’s glimpse into her daily writing schedule: Start with large, strong coffee. Read paper, doesn’t much matter which one. Concentrate on little stories. Dostoevsky snatched scads of ideas from …
June 3, 2020
Reader’s Corner: ‘The Kill Chain’
In Christian Brose’s position-paper-ish book The Kill Chain, he lays out a strong argument for why the Pentagon’s complacency and ineptitude could very well doom the American military the next time they engage in a shooting war with a world power. Here’s his scenario for what would happen in a Pacific conflict: Cyberattacks would grind …
May 31, 2020
Writer’s Desk: Who Cares What They Say
The ineffably brilliant John Berryman was never a popular poet. But those who know his work tend to be, shall we say, highly committed to singing his praises. His style was raw and jangled, symphonic and bluesy, the sort of thing that hits you in the heart and makes you imagine everything terrible and beautiful …
May 27, 2020
Screening Room: ‘The Vast of Night’
The Vast of Night is playing now in some drive-in theaters, and streams on Amazon this Friday. My review is at The Playlist: A head-snapper of a debut from Andrew Patterson, “The Vast of Night” is one of those eerie indies that uses the trappings of genre (alien invasion in this case) as a launchpad into …
May 24, 2020
Writer’s Desk: Start a Fight
Perhaps not literally. But writing is perception. And one way to test your perception is to try out multiple takes on the same thing and see the result. Mary Karr (The Liar’s Club) has an approach she uses in her memoir-writing class: …these are young, very smart people who are very confident about their memories …
May 23, 2020
Reader’s Corner: Nothing is Forever
Toronto’s venerable Bakka-Phoenix Science Fiction & Fantasy Bookstore is apparently staying closed for now even as the city allows some retailers to reopen. Assistant manager Rebecca Lovatt explained why to a local newspaper: Science fiction and fantasy readers – and readers in general – are pretty astute and they’ve seen what can happen in the …
May 20, 2020
Screening Room: ‘The Painter and the Thief’
A shapeshifter of a documentary, The Painter and the Thief follows the surprising aftermath of a gallery break-in. After losing two of her paintings in the theft, the artist connects with one of the men who stole them and begins painting him. The Painter and the Thief opens Friday. My review is at The Playlist: …
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May 18, 2020
Screening Room: ‘The Trip to Greece’
A decade after The Trip introduced the concept of a couple comics japing around as they touristed and ate delicate foods, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon have returned for the fourth and last entry in this surprisingly durable series. The Trip to Greece opens this Friday. My review is at The Playlist: There are many
May 17, 2020
Writer’s Desk: Build Your Space
Lawrence Wright is one of our greatest living nonfiction writers. One of the reasons for this is that he spends the time doing the work. By work, he means doing an incredible amount of background investigation. Even his recent novel The End of October (about a pandemic, curiously enough), is mined from a ridiculous amount
May 13, 2020
Screening Room: ‘The Ghost of Peter Sellers’
In 1973, director Peter Medak (The Ruling Class) and Peter Sellers set off to Cyprus to shoot the rollicking pirate comedy Ghost in the Noonday Sun. Everything fell apart and the movie only limped onto home video over a decade later to widespread derision. Decades later, Medak returns to the scene of the crime to
