Brad Gooch’s new biography of Flannery O’Connor is reviewed for the Atlantic by Joseph O’Neill. It looks like a fascinating book, and one I’m planning to add to my list. I was struck in particular by this: O’Connor was a fervent Roman Catholic—a “thirteenth century” Catholic, as she described herself. She read deeply into theology,… Continue reading

Anthony Lane has some serious fun with the new Star Trek movie. Here, in other words, is a long-range backstory—a device that, in the Hollywood of recent times, has grown from an option to a fetish. I lost patience with “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” once we learned of Willy Wonka’s primal trauma (his father… Continue reading

Superb video on PCR and electrophoresis.

Comic Break: This is my kind of burger joint: Watch CBS Videos Online

How sloppy is the Boston Globe getting? Check out this whopper in Heller McAlpin’s book review of Christopher Buckley’s Losing Mum and Pup. Second, his only son, Christopher, came out in a Daily Beast column this past fall with, “Sorry, Dad, I’m Voting for Obama” – a defection that led to his readily accepted resignation… Continue reading