Deconstructing the Beat Generation
"The origins of the word 'beat' are obscure, but the meaning is only too clear to most Americans. More than mere weariness, it implies the feeling of having been used,…
Literary Insults
Elizabeth Bishop on J. D. Salinger: "I HATED the Salinger story (The Catcher in the Rye). It took me days to go through it, gingerly, a page at a time,…
Films About Sideshow Performers
“Ladies and gentlemen, you're about to behold a sight so strange, so horrifying, so utterly monstrous, that I urge you who are easily frightened or upset, who suffer from nervous…
Celebrating Dickens: The 25 Days of A Christmas Carol Challenge
The goal was simple – honor Charles Dickens’ classic 1843 holiday tale by watching a different version of A Christmas Carol every day between December 1 and December 25, 2018.…
Fred G. Johnson: “The Picasso of Circus Art”
Today the works of legendary sideshow banner artist Fred G. Johnson (1892-1990) are considered top collectible items that auction for thousands of dollars (two of his banners even appeared on…
Word Hoard: Book Reviews [1999-2019]
"Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind." - Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote Air ŕ boire…