fiction1
Mark Twain’s Caustic Satire

Satire, like every other rhetorical device developed over the centuries, can serve a usefu...

fiction1
Throwback Thursday: Getting Real—An American Critic’s Take on the Argument Over Realism and Romance

It often comes up: What kind of fiction do you like to read? Do you like your stories as r...

books
‘Chas’ Novel Explores Dependence on Technology, Family

CHAS: FORESHADOWING DESTINY — By Mike Arthur — Novel — Westbow Press — 2013 — T...

books
Prose Fiction Update

For your reading pleasure, as the work week comes to a close. Spend some time this weeke...

books
‘Girl Who Played with Fire’ Is Impelled by Moral Obsession

If there was ever an author whose work I ought not to enjoy, it would be the late Stieg L...

books
Are We Privileging Politics In Our Entertainment Choices?

Given my conservative frame of mind, fiction that bucks today’s politically correct dogm...

television
Another ‘Goode’ Work by Mike Judge?

     TV writer-producer-actor and filmmaker Mike Judge has a new ...

movies
Asian Horror Films and Their Hollywood Remakes

  Here's an interesting question: Why are Hollywood remakes of popular Asian hor...

genres
The Problem with Contemporary Detective Fiction

In an essay provocatively called "The Slow and Agonizing Death of the Private Detecti...

genres
A Very Good Film Dealing with Devil Worship

Tonight at 8:00 EDT Turner Network Television is showing a very underrated movie from 1957...

mysteries
The Value of Plot; plus: Guest Review of “Night of the Wolf”

A few weeks ago I eagerly purchased a copy of the new book Night of the Wolf, a collection...