by aaron | Jan 18, 2017 | reviews
I recently read Michel Houellebecq’s The Elementary Particles. The fact that I’m only now writing a review about a book that was first published in France in 1998 clearly demonstrates how far behind the times I am. Perhaps sometimes late is...
by aaron | Jan 15, 2017 | Essays, reviews
2016 was a rough year for cultural figures. No, I’m not talking about the 17 (yikes) Republican Presidential candidates, each of whom was in fact quite good for culture, though beyond writing SNL-styled spoofs they had the nerve to call their...
by aaron | Feb 9, 2016 | reviews
This past weekend was supposed to be Super. All the endless anticipatory chatter was about exactly how Super things were going to be: Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Peyton Manning—the holy trinity and their minions all gathered together under the umbrella of a multi-billion...
by aaron | Dec 1, 2015 | reviews
The first time I heard Electric Warrior by 70’s glam-rockers T. Rex I was in my early 30’s. Two thoughts occurred in such rapid succession as to be almost simultaneous: This is fucking amazing!!! and Why haven’t I heard this before?!? That feeling...
by aaron | Jun 24, 2015 | reviews
It’s a curious thing how much we like to compare and rank. We scale the things of our lives, often for ease of communication, and usually we do it on something as simple as a sliding slope of 1-10: this nectarine is an 8, that Thai restaurant is a 7, the new...
by aaron | Mar 30, 2015 | Essays, reviews
I’ve been on a bit of a mystery kick lately with several friends. We’ve read through some classic American tough-guy fiction—Dashiel Hammet’s The Maltese Falcon, Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep and The Long Goodbye—and contrasted the books...