Barry Graham's Blog, page 41
August 5, 2015
Haiku
cat in summer street
meows greeting to human
through dead mouse in jaws
August 4, 2015
ARE WE CITIZENS OR PETS?
Why the Debates About GMO labeling Miss the Point
This might be the only opinion column you’ll ever read in which the writer keeps most of his opinions on the subject to himself.
I have strong opinions about the safety of GMO food, for both humans and the environment—but I’m not going to share these opinions here. Because every time I read or listen to a discussion about GMO labeling, I hear people’s opinions about GMO safety. And these opinions, whether for or against, miss the point.
Let’s assume that GMO food is completely safe, and causes...
August 2, 2015
Zen and Our Beliefs About How We Should Be
I had the following exchange with a friend who read my book Kill Your Self: Life After Ego. With their permission, I decided to post it here, as it may be useful to others. My friend’s remarks are in in bold type, mine in regular type.
I’ve been thinking a lot about how to appreciate and enjoy the strawberries in my bowl without worrying/wondering about if and when I’ll get more…
Just notice that thought and don’t attach to it.
Working on it. :-)
It’s difficult not to want more of somethin...
July 14, 2015
Why Crime Writers Must Learn to Sing - The Big Click
Oh, the irony—my latest column in The Big Click is an argument for brevity in writing…and I think it’s the longest column I’ve written for the magazine.
The Big Click is my favorite magazine that I’ve written for. It publishes top-quality work, and it pays its writers, and it pays them on time. Although you can read it for free online, please subscribe or buy the e-book version if you can.
June 25, 2015
Tartan Noir: The Book of Man
The book Tartan Noir by Len Wanner has an essay on my novel The Book of Man that I think is the most insightful thing anyone has written about that book.
Despite the predominance of hate, however, of broken men with twisted minds who destroy themselves and others, noir can also be about the opposite—love. In fact, as Barry Graham demonstrates in The Book of Man, published in 1995, it is not only possible for a noir novel to be a love story, but the potential to be alone, afraid, angry, amoral,...
June 22, 2015
Free Ebooks
Three of my ebooks are currently free at all the major retailers.
Amazon Barnes & Noble iTunes Kobo
Amazon Barnes & Noble iTunes Kobo
June 20, 2015
Fault Line (Vagabond Poets): Amazon.co.uk: Gerry Loose: 9781908251343: Books
My friend Gerry Loose is one of the great contemporary Scottish (okay, he’s Irish, but he’s lived in Scotland for more than 30 years) poets. His latest book, Fault Line, resonates with his training as an ecologist, his tough and compassionate Buddhist eye, and his anger at one of Scotland’s loveliest areas being used by the U.K. government as storage for its nuclear weapons.
From the publisher:
‘Fault line: 1) a line...
June 18, 2015
versobooks:
On this day in 1984, the battle of Orgreave took...
On this day in 1984, the battle of Orgreave took place when striking miners faced off against thousands of police as they attempted to blockade the Orgreave coking plant. The police showed the lengths they would go to to break the strike, with violent attacks, mass arrests and deliberate but fortunately unsuccessful attempts to fabricate evidence and frame miners. And the BBC reversed footage of miners defending themselves from police attacks to try to pretend police were attacked...
June 17, 2015
Birthday, Mono No Aware, Love
It is my 49th birthday, and she has noticed the physical changes in me in the years we have been together. She has found a dead leaf, with holes in it, and, after letting it dry for months, she has accentuated its lines in gold paint, inspired by the Japanese tradition of gilding the cracks in cups that have been broken and repaired. She has framed the leaf, and now she gives it to me.
“Its decay is beautiful,” she says. “I see your decay, and it’s beautiful too.”
June 16, 2015
Haiku
Summer apartment–
cat sheds fur
on my bare feet
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