The Anger of a Happy Warrior
U.S. socialist Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont lays out his ideas for how to thnk about and remedy the injustices of America’s extreme capitalist system in his new book, “It’s OK To Be Angry About Capitalism.” The 81-year-old political activist remains engaged and even iconic as he counsels anger at the powers-that-be and assures readers it’s okay to be angry. Stan Persky thinks it’s a compelling argument.
The Show Goes On: Nik Sheehan reviews the 2023 Best Picture Oscar Nominees
Filmmaker and critic Nik Sheehan takes a last-minute tour of the Oscars before the show goes on.
Joined at the Mind: Brian Fawcett (1944-2022)
Brian Fawcett wrote books for people who find television too slow. Stan Persky remembers a writer who never forgot his hometown, and with whom he shared a “joint mind.”
The trouble with Stanley Tucci’s Taste (and the right way to make tomato sauce)
Brian Fawcett on how to make Euclid Avenue Tomato Sauce. Everything you need to know to get it right.
The Answer to Some Things (and not others)
Ken Belford’s selected poems, “The Answer to Everything.” Or, as reviewers Vivien Lougheed and John Harris suggest, “the answer to some things (and not others).”
The Martian Invasion: (Ch. 2) Travel Morons
In Ch. 2 of “The Martian Invasion,” Brian Fawcett, a coming-of-age young Canadian, is on the Grand Tour of Europe in 1963. The “Rover Boys” (Brian and a pal) are driving a 1953 Opel through a blizzard in the Alps, eventually ending up behind the Iron Curtain in Belgrade, Serbia. The adventures of “travel morons.”
SENTENCE: LIFE HAPPENED
Mikhail Iossel is in Kenya, being interviewed by a Young Writer for a Nairobi-based publication, who, upon being shown some photos of Iossel in his youthful 20s, asks, “But… but… what happened?” SENTENCE: LIFE HAPPENED is the latest in Iossel’s series of stories-in-one-sentence.
Scribbles from Italy: Men Who Know How, Hurt Words, Permission, Meta Metaverse, A Pressing Time
Vian Andrews’ journals from Italy’s Umbrian countryside include woodpiles, competent workers, words that hurt, bureaucratic permits, Sunday theme-parks, and lots of olives, harvested and pressed, and olive oil drizzled on hot grilled bread.
The Martian Invasion: A Love Story: (Ch. 1) An Incident in an Alley
Brian Fawcett relates an incident in an alley in Brighton, England in 1963 that involves dope, Rockers, switchblades, and books. But how to tell a story that doesn’t violate the principles of the Creative Writing Department Manual or the fact that there is no fiction in the real world? “The Martians are always coming,” as one writer once said.
The Sussex Variations, or Two Boars: (Ch. 15) Nightingales, and a Short Journey Through the Darkness
In the concluding chapter of Brian Fawcett’s “The Sussex Variations, or Two Boars,” the young Canadian acquiring an “education” on an English pig farm in 1962 is still learning about the birds and the boars. “Nightingales, and a Short Journey Through the Darkness” features robins, starlings, nightingales and a deadly dangerous boar.