Rob Ney, the disgraced congressman from Ohio, could probably write fine short stories in prison if he set his mind to it. Think Sherwood Anderson. Think melancholy. Think big, and softly.

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Martha Stewart said she’d “do more” for incarcerated women once she got out. I’d like to know what she’s done. Created an ex-con internship program? Hooked them up with custody lawyers? Started a book-club? If she’s done nothing, I’ll lose all faith I had in the benevolence of global corporations. And at one time I […]

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The newest edition of Poetry has “Summer Break” emblazoned across the cover. Guess we’ve officially cut through the bullshit. American poetry is owned and operated by academia, case closed. And now it’s time to take a break while everyone draws up lesson plans for the fall. Thanks for letting me know.  

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I’ve heard Thomas Mann used to dress up to write. He’d put a white gown on. He’d do some breathing exercises. Today he’d write crystal books. You’d buy them at the check-out line.

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Urban libertarians are the sort who like to party but would never buy drinks on a pub crawl. They’d stay up all night, run your tab into the hundreds and preach to you about choice and accountability when you defaulted on credit card debt the following week. They’re astounding.

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Who’s behind Spare Change? A philanthropic publisher? Goverment program? Non-profit grants from different outfits? A combination of all three? I vote for the latter. I vote for cigarettes in all the bars. Processed tomatoes in all the schools. Universal health care. Civil unions. I’m what you call a Democratic ”centrist.” I’m what you call inevitable. 

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I’ve never read Dreiser, but I bet he’d really strike a chord during any economic “slowdown.” If Barack quoted him on the stump I’d get goose-bumps. I’d get trashed.

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Guy Maddin is unwatchable. I had such high hopes for The Saddest Music in the World, but then I got lost in all that grainy footage. The Canadian auteurs must have a better ambassador somewhere. In other news from Maple Country, I’m thrilled to see Cito Gaston has returned as Blue Jays manager. He reminds […]

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Beloved readers, I apologize. Rather than post yesterday, I partied. I know adults who use party as a verb aren’t worthy of the name (the name “adult,” that is). You must forgive me my unworthiness. Remember that line from Dylan’s “Sara”? Anybody ever listen to his satellite program? What does he play? Where does he […]

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We need to see more late Tennessee Williams in New York. Something Cloudy, Something Clear needs an audience. It needs a bloated budget for the dunes in the background. It needs waves. It needs Democratic operatives flooding the house on opening night. Rudy too.

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I propose a yearlong moratorium on news in the wake of Tim Russert’s untimely death. What, exactly, is a timely death? I can’t remember the last time a guy on the verge of expiring thought to himself, “Right on schedule.” The press needs new modifiers. New publishers. New health plans.

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Right now, it’s time for some extreme makeovers.

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Dorothy Parker would have a soft core blog if she was alive today. I wouldn’t link to it. Nothing titillates me quite like her writing. I don’t even work for an evangelical lobby. I just hate bodies ’cause they smell, even when they’re naked. Especially then.

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Bay State Sen. Jim Marzilli, a self-described pinko and alleged crotch grabber, has a well-groomed goatee. His wife runs some anti-war group. I hear she wants the neocons to take a more hands-off approach to foreign policy. Cheap shot today. I’ve got a lot to do before lunch.

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You wonder why political engagement has gone out of vogue for older American poets. You mention their hero Yeats, and they just shrug. Strange, because Pinsky would make a great machine Democrat. He could easily get Hillary in the White House if he was committed to the task. Geoffrey Hill is dead, by all reports, […]

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