Archive for August 2023
Parents: Got a life?
by David Benjamin “Schoolboys are a merciless race, individually they are angels, but together, especially in schools, they are often merciless.” ― Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov MADISON, Wis.— Let’s try to overlook the screaming irony of the Republican Party fighting for “parents rights” after winning a fifty-year crusade against women’s rights to control…
Read MoreIt’s the Vatican’s jalopy. Ship it back.
by David Benjamin “Catholic teaching was that no homicide was involved if abortion took place before the foetus was infused with a soul, known as ‘ensoulment’. This was believed to occur at ‘quickening’, when the mother detected the child move for the first time in her womb. It indicated a separate consciousness. “In 1591, Pope…
Read MoreThe author as educator
Some misguided souls refuse to read fiction, explaining—when I ask—that they want to learn stuff, as though there is nothing to learn in Aeschylus, Shakespeare and James A. Michener. The truth is that every storyteller begins with a ton of homework, lest his or her readers refuse to suspend disbelief. by David Benjamin Even the……
Read MoreWelles’ Law and the Ogden Nash Dilemma
by David Benjamin “What finally saved the movies was the introduction of narrative.” — Arthur Knight, The Liveliest Art MADISON, Wis.— Most contemporary writers crib from the movies. I do so voluminously and shamelessly. I grew up watching movies. I was the first kid in my grade to shlep downtown and go to the…
Read MoreAn open letter to my high-school best friend
by David Benjamin Dear Dick: At long last, I’m writing to apologize for mooching my way, uninvited and unwashed, into your life and the bosom of your family. If you recall, it all started one summer day in 1964, when I mounted my bicycle and pedaled the three miles from a cramped, cluttered and…
Read MoreToying with time
by David Benjamin Any time a writer decides to toy with time, to alter chronology as a narrative device, the risk is reader confusion. The writer also risks blowback for historical mistakes or by trips to the future that strain credibility. The temptation for time-travel must be executed with originality and bolstered by research. ……
Read MoreThe legal peregrinations of “Scrooge McDuck”
by David Benjamin “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” — Albert Einstein MADISON, Wis.—So, there’s this guy. Let’s call him Individual One. He’s rich, okay? But he really hates to pay his bills, He’d rather just sit in a big room on a…
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