The Ember of Anger

The Ember of Anger When I was still muddling with my prose in high school, there was a big trend in the literary world for the sort of writer referred to as the “angry young man.” (Note that no market existed whatsoever for “angry young women.” The closest I might possibly cite in those days……

Read More

The machine-gun in the cloister

by David Benjamin “… Thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness. Defenceless villages are bombarded from the air, the inhabitants are driven out into the countryside, the cattle machine-gunned, the huts set on fire with incendiary bullets: this is called pacification…” — George Orwell, Politics and the English…

Read More

Computer? … Computer! … COMPUTER!

by David Benjamin “The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play.” — Capt. James T. Kirk MADISON, Wis. — All through my grade-school years, a Friday afternoon tabloid called The Weekly Reader was every kid’s gateway to a golden tomorrow. In its inky newsprint pages were unveiled breathtaking technological…

Read More

The Elements of Character

As a young writer, a dilemma that troubled me was characters. I was busily writing sketches populated by imaginary people. But I wondered, are these guys, and girls, characters? Had I “developed” them, or did they just pop into my head, like visions of Milky Way bars and the Playmate of the Month? Since then,……

Read More

Dick’s “theory” rears its loony head … again

by David Benjamin “Donald Trump … suggested on Fox News Thursday night that [President] Biden should respond to the invasion by personally threatening to obliterate Russia with nuclear weapons.” — Greg Sargent, Washington Post MADISON, Wis. — David Brooks, the Times’ resident touchy-feely columnist, refers to Russian president Vladimir Putin as an “identity politician,” whose…

Read More

“Memory Care”

by David Benjamin “… Strictly entre nous/ Darling, how are you?/ And how are all/ Those little dreams/ That never did come true?… ” — “Thanks for the Memory,”  Leo Robin & Ralph Rainger MADISON, Wis. — Lately, I’ve been trampling on my sister’s memories. Margaret Ann Benjamin, henceforth referred to as Peg, was a…

Read More

A novelist’s guide to dining in Paris

A novelist’s guide to dining in Paris One advantage of writing fantasy fiction is that you get to make up an entire world, with made-up heroes, damsels, villains, dragons, and an imaginary history. No fussy editor or reader can fact-check your backstory or expose your topographical blunders. On the other hand, when setting a story……

Read More