This Week's Writing 7/8/23

last day of sale!

Again, somewhat to my surprise and confusion, the 40% off sale I wanted to end on the 4th kept going. But! Today is really the last day. $30/year, $3/month; last chance! for real!

Posting was a little light this week because of the holiday, but there was still quite a bit. And here it is!

If You Read One Thing By Me This Week, Read

Sartre’s confused antisemitism. (EIH)

Politics

The Civil Rights Movement wasn’t respectable. (EIH)

Criticism

C.K. Chau’s novel Good Fortune relocates Pride and Prejudice to New York’s Chinatown, and provides a smart critique of Austen’s class biases. (LA Times)

Country lifer Dale Watson has another great album with “Starvation Box.” (No Depression)

Disinter will not stop the death. (Chicago Reader)

Evil Dead Rise lifts off for 10 great minutes…and then the demons fizzle out. (EIH)

Star Trek TOS “Mirror, Mirror” is all cold war anxiety, pulp tropes, and facial hair. (EIH)

Personal Essay

On no longer schlepping my daughter around. (EIH)

Poetry

One of my poems has been nominated for the Dwarf Stars! That’s an award for short short speculative poems. Nominated poem below! (SFPA)

Nor Am I Out of It
The dead will all go down to hell
The living swelter there as well.
Though for the joy of punishment
The living pay a higher rent.

A poem about the joys of contrarianism. (Asses of Parnassus)

Peer Pressure
Why should you care at all, they cry,
What all the world should think?
Well, all the world has all the lye
And they can make you drink.

A collage poem from book titles. (Synchronized Chaos)

A poem to make Hopkins weep. (Five Fleas)

I
I caught
I caught this
I caught this morning
I caught this
I caught
I

A poem on the flooding in Chicago this week. (Five Fleas)

Water in the Basement
If you just leave it alone
it will go away
never.
It will never go away.

Stupid water.