Guy Montag, eat your heart out

by David Benjamin “If they give you ruled paper, write the other way” —Juan Ramon Jimenez, quoted by Ray Bradbury in Fahrenheit 451   MADISON, Wis. — Nobody is quite sure whether the school board in Keller, Texas has “officially” banned from its libraries the Bible and The Diary of Anne Frank. They seem to…

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The appeal of the ambiguous

Among the most important characters in television history is Tony Soprano, a murderous adulterer who was, nevertheless, likable. His guilt and insecurities inspired empathy in his audience and instilled in them a sense of moral ambiguity rare in popular entertainment. This installment of Write Away ponders the writer’s imperative to create bad guys who are……

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Abominable masterpiece

by David Benjamin “The Negro race has had enough trouble, more than enough of its share of injustice, oppression, tragedy, suffering and sorrow. And because of the social progress which Negroes achieved in the face of these handicaps, it is best that The Birth of a Nation in its present form be withheld from public…

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The wail of the weakling

by David Benjamin   “In the fell clutch of circumstance       I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance       My head is bloody, but unbowed…” —William Ernest Henley, “Invictus”   MADISON, Wis. — Jeez Louise, whatever became of the strong, silent type? For all my life, and yours, the first commandment of…

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Where do you get your ideas?

Where do you get your ideas? Everybody has ideas, both mundane and fantastic. They run constantly through our heads. When I was sixteen, I remember leafing through ahigh-school yearbook whose editors had captioned, with exceptional wit, every photo in the gallery of seniors. One thumbnail, beneath a boy with a smirk of mock worldliness, has……

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A hot time in the old town

by David Benjamin “Hot town, summer in the city? Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty…” —John Sebastian MADISON, Wis. — You don’t have to guess what city John Sebastian was thinking about when he — along with Steve Boone and his brother Mark — wrote “ … All around, people looking half-dead, Walking on…

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The sacredly profane

by David Benjamin Before publishing my novel, Jailbait, first in a crime series featuring smalltown police chief Jim Otis, I had top consider the impact of the title. The term, “jailbait,” has a long American history asa mild vulgarity not spoken in polite company. However, because the title is appropriate to my story, I kept……

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