How to Win a Civil War

In which the author speculates on the finer points of being a human, particularly in the American South.

The Wages of Success

7 years 4 weeks ago

"A few of you, but I think only a very few, are actually hoping for a German victory. More than a few admire Hitler tremendously. You can't help it. You have been taught to admire success whether it be in the realm of athletics, business, social life, or politics, and Hitler is the greatest exponent of success the modern world has ever seen. In the midst of your admiration just remember what William James said about the danger besetting America, 'the danger of moral flabbiness born of an exclusive worship of the bitch-goddess Success'"

This blog is less on hold than it used to be

7 years 1 month ago

Call me a word wastrel. Sentences, I can't quit you.

This blog is on hold

7 years 3 months ago

As usually happens whenever I have a blog, I become jealous of the words I'm putting here. Like, I should be putting them somewhere else. This is basically a dark hole. So if you've come here looking for new stuff, just look at the old stuff.

January Viewings

7 years 10 months ago

The Imitation Game
The Birds
Goliath
Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Manchester by the Sea
Hell or High Water
Patton
The Untold History of the United States
Narcos
Blood Simple

January Readings

7 years 10 months ago

The Destructive War: William Tecumseh Sherman, Stonewall Jackson, and the Americans, Charles Royster

One Fell Soup

8 years 7 months ago

I'm cheating with this one, because I haven't actually finished it. Maybe I will. Maybe I won't. It's mostly a great book, if a tad uneven. Books like this often are — it's basically a collection from Roy Blount, Jr.'s AJC column. Since Roy is Roy, it's almost always going to be uproariously funny, but because it's a collection you're going to feel like you're reading a game of ping pong.

Kings of Tourism

8 years 7 months ago

[Ed.] I would hate for anyone to come away from this with the impression that I dislike Atlanta. It's my home and I love it. I just think the tourist industry here is a joke.

Beat to Quarters

8 years 8 months ago

Whilst in the midst of reading this volume a month or so ago, I asked my son what the phrase "beat to quarters" meant, and — this is a game we play where he invents definitions for things he's unfamiliar with — he suggested it signifies a really severe beating, as in, you beat someone so badly they are torn into four parts.

Wise Blood

8 years 8 months ago

I bought this slim novel in the late summer of 2014 whilst touring Andalusia Farm with my pal Jim. Not that Jim; this Jim.

Books!

8 years 8 months ago

Given a) the purpose of this blog is to keep my virtual pen moving, and b) the sort of quotidian material I usually use has its limitations, particularly when my brain is all befuzzled by the day-job shrapnel that tears through it constantly, I thought it would be a useful exercise to write reviews of some of the books I've been reading. I've got a bit of a backlog on the year; I've been slicing through a sizeable stack of books at a decent rate.

So, coming shortly, reviews of the following:

Pages