Joseph Bottum, on the sad news that novelist Thomas M. Disch is dead: Endlessly talented, Tom was always a difficult character, with strange edges and an awkward, unbalanced and finally unbearably sad life. His friend and mentor, the science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick, once turned him into the FBI as a communist spy. He wasn’t,… Continue reading

Fifty Years ago….I actually missed the date: May 8, 1958, when Hammer’s classic version of Dracula was released in the US (as Horror of Dracula). The film made Christopher Lee a star overnight. (It almost type-cast him to death as well.) But the effect it had on cinema is hard to appreciate now. Martin Scorcese… Continue reading

Performance Art: Boston style:Jay Fitzgerald beats me to this beauty. If you can stand the crappy camera work–no wait, just turn around from your screen and listen to the beer-soaked caterwauling. The guy’s blood-alcohol must be 40%…. It should be beyond belief. But it’s not. Because it’s Boston.

Well, this is a shock: A survey released last week found one reason America doesn’t top the list: Baby Boomers are generally miserable compared to other generations. Further, a public opinion poll released by the Pew Research Center in April found that 81 percent of Americans say they believe the country is on the “wrong… Continue reading

With the 4th of July weekend up ahead and a nice long summer for lovers of books on the beach (or books on ipod as you jog), I’ve decided on a weekly basis to beat the drums for my one contribution to the beach reading genre. Think about adding it to your list. I’m up… Continue reading