I just realized that if I converted this to book form it, the book would be 200-plus pages. Unfortunately, number of pages do not correlate with literary excellence.
Yesterday, I completed my participation in a “Best of the Net” longform writing contest. All told, I read almost 40 pieces; most memorable of them were an in-action memoir by a non-binary New York stripper and a “lit-installation” involving a map taped to a Boulder, Colorado street. We simply voted “yes” or “no” for each piece, and I only read seven “yes” essays (or thereabouts). I’d do it again.
Oscar Wilde once opined that when critics are divided about a work of art, the artist has succeeded. That’s flashier than it is true, but Netflix’s Ratched seems to support the great man’s dictum. Nicole and I love its style, audacity, and humor (especially), but we clearly recognized it ain’t for everyone, and after watching an episode last night, I scanned the series’ reviews, which were all over the map. Should you watch it? If a mind-meld of Douglas Sirk, Alfred Hitchcock, and Herschell Gordon Lewis sounds attractive, you should dig in. We’ve only seen the first three episodes, so we aren’t sure if it sustains that vibe.
Streaming for Strivers:
Country-soul voice from Alabama. Many of his 45s graced John and Yoko’s Dakota Hotel jukebox.
The Overeem Farewell Tour: Dispatches from the Public School Trenches 