Pete Townshend at 80
Sean MurphyHappy 80th, Pete Townshend! Inspiring? Pete Townshend, arguably, is the ultimate rock hero. He had the Lennon & McCartney songwriting skills; he played the hell of those guitars he ultimately…
Happy Birthday to My Book
As everyone’s favorite cop John McClane said, “Welcome to the party, pal.” If you missed some of this nonsense a year ago, enjoy this series of throwbacks; if you’ve been with me…
Original Poem: ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, 1967: MUHAMMAD ALI REFUSES ARMY INDUCTION*
*From 2023: My thanks to Words & Sports Quarterly for publishing my poem about how America handled Muhammad Ali and his (spiritually & politically astute, prescient) conscientious objection to the Vietnam war.…
Elon’s House of Suffering: More of This, Please
The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine. Wonderful news from the wonderful team at The Atlantic about the wonderful, hopefully ongoing comeuppance and ceaseless misery that is…
Bill Maher’s Missed Opportunity
I'm deeply grateful to continue this collaboration with The Good Men Project, and appreciate them supporting my work. It's a shame Larry David stole my thunder via the The New York Times (just…
This is The Question, There are No Other Questions
Toward the end of The Verdict, Paul Newman's mentor first admonishes him, reminding him that he broke the first law of being a trial lawyer, which is: never asks a…
Original Poem: Francis Coppola’s Apocalypse
On Art Monsters & Immortality i. It continues to be a joy and honor to have my work appear –alongside so many excellent writers– in Exterminating Angel Press. The theme of…
The Great Gatsby at 100
F. Scott Fitzgerald got America in his sights, for all time Why is the The Great Gatsby the great American novel? Because it mattered then, and it matters now. Because it was…
Val Kilmer: He Was Our Huckleberry
Nice to see some great tributes to Val Kilmer rolling in (and this one in particular, by Esther Zuckerman in the New York Times, where she offers the astute and, to me,…
1925, 2025
“Civilization’s going to pieces...I’ve gotten to be a terrible pessimist about things. Have you read ‘The Rise of the Colored Empires’ by this man Goddard? Well, it’s a fine book,…