Posts by David Benjamin
The pedagogy of creation
Writing can be taught, and there are curricula—and prestigious college seminars—devoted to “creative writing.” But can you teach creativity? by David Benjamin “However great a man’s natural talent may be, the art of writing cannot be learned all at once.” ― Jean-Jacques Rousseau MADISON, Wis.—It has always been my conviction that you can’t teach creativity.……
Read More… and the horse you came in on
by David Benjamin “I think I’m going to get a Nobel Prize for a lot of things, if they gave it out fairly, which they don’t.” —Trump STOCKHOLM—In announcing the creation of a new category in the world’s most prestigious international awards program, Sigurd Sigurdssonn, chairman of the Nobel Prize Search Committee, has denied that…
Read MoreThe credibility chasm
Readers can turn agains an author if the details of a report or a story are so inaccurate that they are noticeable. Credibility can be a chasm for the writer who doesn’t bother to check and double-check. by David Benjamin “People know accuracy when they read it; they can feel it.” ― Alan Furst MADISON,……
Read MoreAn open letter to Roger Goodell
Roger Goodell, Commissioner National Football League 345 Park Avenue New York NY 10154 Dear Mr. Goodell: I’m writing to you about a National Football League problem of which you are likely unaware and to which you are unlikely to seek a solution. Indeed, as with most of the occasional missives I address to the rich…
Read MoreBye bye, DEI
by David Benjamin “The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter, “It isn’t just one of your holiday games…” —T.S. Eliot MADISON, Wis.—If there’s any silver lining in America’s descent toward strongman despotism, it’s the left wing’s opportunity to undertake a linguistic reset, to heed Thoreau’s advice: “Simplify, simplify.” The people who uneasily call ourselves…
Read MoreHeartbreak: The author’s best friend
by David Benjamin “It is strange how often a heart must be broken “Before the years can make it wise.” ― Sara Teasdale MADISON, Wis.—Before I was out of high school, I had twice suffered a broken heart. In the summer of ’66, a girl named Linda broke my heart so gently that it barely……
Read MoreThe hydrogen of hyperbole
by David Benjamin “… Justice Merchan made clear that even if the sentencing were to go forward, he would not recommend any kind of prison sentence or home confinement.” —Maggie Haberman, NY Times, 5 Jan. ‘25 MADISON, Wis.—The inhabitants of “Earth One”—immune to the fantasy world of “X,” Fox News, Truth Social, OAN, InfoWars and…
Read MoreFrom codex to multiplex
by David Benjamin “Under those blue pajamas was a shape to set a man nuts … ” —James M. Cain, Double Indemnity MADISON, Wis.—Recently, as I watched the opening credits of the 1944 classic, Double Indemnity, I suddenly whispered, “Wow!” The writers listed for the movie—based on James M. Cain’s darkly compelling novel—were Raymond Chandler…
Read MoreI hate it when the bad guy gets caught
by David Benjamin “He is the Napoleon of crime, Watson. He is the organizer of half that is evil and nearly all that is undetected … He is a genius, a philosopher, an abstract thinker. He has a brain of the first order.” Sherlock Holmes MADISON, Wis.—What I said up there isn’t strictly true. In……
Read MoreDeconstruction redux
by David Benjamin “Strange things have happened of late and are still happening. Some of these tend to dim the lustre of the American name, and chill the hopes once entertained for the cause of American liberty. He is a wiser man than I am, who can tell how low the moral sentiment of this…
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