Posts by David Benjamin
Follicle wars, conformity follies
by David Benjamin “Get a haircut and get a real job/ Clean your act up and don’t be a slob/ Get it together like your big brother Bob … ” —George Thorogood and the Destoyers MADISON, Wis.—My favorite vignette in America’s endlessly recycling follicle wars appears in Robert Zemeckis’ little-noted but remarkably significant—and fun!—film,…
Read MoreThe Kafka thread
The choice between writing “realism” or venturing into science-fiction and fantasy is often irrevocable, unless the writer can somehow follow the unique example of Franz Kafka. by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis.—Every fiction writer, often subconsciously, decides early in life whether to base his or her stories in the “real” world or to venture instead……
Read MoreA voice in the distance
by David Benjamin “Back then, it was students against the institution. Now it’s very different because it’s student against student.”” —Paul Brest, professor emeritus, Stanford Law School MADISON, Wis.—When I was matriculating at a little liberal arts outpost called Rockford College (pop. 450), there were two noticeably outspoken right-wing students. One, from Boston,…
Read MorePrivy counsel
by David Benjamin “… conservatives … argue that the crisis in Americasn schools is … about leftist teachers propagandizing on critical race theory and giving kids new pronouns while denying them safe bathrooms.” —Nicholas Kristoff, The New York Times MADISON, Wis.—In Nicholas Kristoff’s eloquent assessment of the real problem with American public schools, I…
Read MoreWhy every author needs a gun catalog
by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis.—Almost every male who grew up between—roughly—1960 and 1990 knows which cinema hero carried, tucked into a slim side-holster so as not to disturb the line of his suit, a Walther PPK. As I thought about James Bond’s favorite pistol, I got curious about it and opened my Standard Catalog of……
Read MoreToward a philosophy of the gun
by David Benjamin “Speaking personally, you can have my gun, but you’ll take my book when you pry my cold, dead fingers off of the binding.” —Stephen King MADISON, Wis.—My gun of choice is a .22 caliber rifle with a telescopic sight. It’s actually the only gun I’ve ever used. It belonged to…
Read MoreThe aggressive mind
There is a Jekyll & Hyde quality in the nature of a professional writer. In person, the writer seems not writerly at all. He or she can seem quiet, unassuming, even withdrawn. But to be effective, a good writer subsumes all self-doubt, conceals misgivings from the reader and writes with controlled aggression. by David……
Read More“The usual deal for hard-up rich guys”
by David Benjamin “Life is little more than a loan shark: It exacts a very high rate of interest for the few pleasures it concedes.” —Luigi Pirandello (An ill-lit table in the dark corner of a bar in Hell’s Kitchen. A man, hatless and nattily attired in a custom tailored blue suit with…
Read More“The tube is flickering now … “
by David Benjamin “When the shouting and tumult dies, the American people and president will realize that the unprecedented mudslinging against the committee by the extreme left-wing elements of press and radio was caused solely because another Fifth Amendment communist was finally dragged out of the dark recesses and exposed to public view.” —Sen.…
Read MoreSeven Mutations of Recollection
by David Benjamin “There’s a holdup in the Bronx, Brooklyn’s broken out in fights, “There’s a traffic jam in Harlem that’s backed up to Jackson Heights, “There’s a scout troop short a child, Khrushchev’s due at Idlewild! “Car 54, where are you?” MADISON, Wis.—Occasionally, to test my memory, I try singing to myself……
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