Why writers talk about movies

By David Benjamin This edition of Write Away was delayed, with the author’s apologies, by travel and Covid-19. Here I discuss a force that has changed, mostly for the better, the very nature of literature—the invention of the motion picture camera. Just as literature before film referred backward to previous writings, mingling old stories with……

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Mandela? Is that a Muslim name?

by David Benjamin “They framed an ad that is chilling and kind of classic in its way. It features a portrait of this very scary looking, disheveled, wild-eyed black man. As [Lee] Atwater once said, by the end of this campaign, you’re going to think that Willie Horton is Michael Dukakis’ running mate.”  — Bill…

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Together again, for the first time

by David Benjamin   “A clear conscience is the sure sign of a bad memory.” — Mark Twain   MADISON, Wis. — Last weekend at my 55th-year high-school reunion, I drifted from the crowd and found, alone at a table, a woman whose name tag—featuring her 1967 yearbook photo—read Linda.  Hesitantly, I sat with her.…

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Are you ready for some foopball?

by David Benjamin    “On TV the people can see it. On radio you’ve got to create it.” — Bob Uecker   MADISON, Wis. — I’m not Ohio State. I’ve been an avid Green Bay Packers fan since I was twelve, but, despite repeated suggestions by TV color commentators like Daryl Johnston, I am not—personally—the…

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The first ‘graph Blues

Starting out a story is a challenge that tempts the author to overwrite, to unload his or her whole vocabulary, to deploy an arsenal of literary devices in a sort of prose blitzkrieg. tThe author also faces an implicit market demand to hit the reader with razzle-dazzle, blood and guts, right off the bat. This……

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The offshoring of conscience

by David Benjamin “We are going to have a long-term worker shortage. So, bringing back high-labor content products doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.” — Sen. Ron Johnson   MADISON, Wis. — One of the capitalists myths punctured by the Covid-19 pandemic was the efficiency of the global supply chain, which allowed corporations to…

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