Scribbles from Italy: Intelligence
Vian Andrews is out in the olive orchards, clearing brush from under the trees and thinking about ChatGPT and the future of artificial and other kinds of intelligence. The latest passage from Andrews’ journal about life in the Umbrian countryside, “Scribbles from Italy.”
Reality Hunger: A Manifesto / b / mimesis
A tour through the history of writing. From David Shields’ 2010 manifesto, “Reality Hunger.” Time for a second look.
The Sussex Variations, or Two Boars (Ch. 4): Concentration, and Testicles
Brian Fawcett learns about the gory details of life on the farm. Ch. 4 of “The Sussex Variations.”
Recent Articles and Reviews:
From the Archives: 20 Years Ago, in 2003, the U.S. invaded Iraq. Here’s what Dooney’s said about the imperial “punitive expedition.”
From the Archives: Twenty years ago, the U.S. invaded Iraq. Here’s what Dooney’s said two decades ago about the American imperial “punitive expedition,” as it rolled across Iraq.
The Sussex Variations, or Two Boars (Ch. 3): Females and Males
Brian Fawcett learns about males and females, both human and porcine, on a pig farm in Sussex, England in the early 1960s.
Scribbles from Italy: The Thing About Sex; Standards of Measurement; Simplifications; No Oil…
Vian Andrews hiking and thinking in the Umbrian countryside, amid olive groves in the rain and “sentieri” paths between mountain hamlets.
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.
Women I Read: International Women’s Day
An International Women’s Day game: who would be on your list? One way to mark IWD: thinking about the women writers we read.
The Sussex Variations, or Two Boars (Ch. 2): Stress, Distress, and the Sussex Downs
Brian Fawcett’s “Sussex Variations, or Two Boars,” Ch. 2. People feel distress. So do pigs. Living and learning on an English farm.
After the Asshole Apocalypse
From the Archives: How to keep thinking and acting during and after the Apocalypse. Daniel Gawthrop has some practical suggestions.
The Sussex Variations, or Two Boars (Ch. 1): Luck, Generosity and the Rules
Brian Fawcett, age 18, from northern British Columbia, arrives at his uncle’s and aunt’s pig farm in Sussex, England, and comes-of-age as two 400-pound boars charge into battle.
Scribbles from Italy: The Big Valley, Here’s to the Big Brain, No Turn Around, Breeding Ground…
Vian Andrews’ dispatches from the Umbrian countryside welcome the light and rage against its dying.
Reality Hunger: A Manifesto / a / overture
David Shields’ 2010 manifesto, “Reality Hunger,” about the state of contemporary writing. Time for a second look.
Scribbles from Italy: The Centre of Things, Last Days in Canada, And So It Begins
Canadian writer Vian Andrews and his wife moved from Vancouver to Umbria in Italy. Here are his “scribbles” from a new place in the world.
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).”
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