Posts by David Benjamin
Pretty little heads … and other parts
by David Benjamin “Curiosity, n. An objectionable quality of the female mind. The desire to know whether or not a woman is cursed with curiosity is one of the most active and insatiable passions of the masculine soul.” ―Ambrose Bierce MADISON, Wis.—There must be studies about this. Trouble is, I haven’t seen any. But there…
Read More“What’s your story?”
by David Benjamin “The novel is the highest example of subtle interrelatedness that man has discovered.” —D.H. Lawrence PARIS—One of my recurring arguments with readers—which never actually occur—is about the power of fiction to clarify the non-fictional reality in which we live and die. At almost every event where I shmooze with readers, I hear……
Read MoreThe Paris welcome
by David Benjamin “Paris is the city of joy where the naive are taken by the neck and blackened on the scaffold, and where villains hold all sway … Purse-cutters and knifemen lurk in the dark.” ―François Villon PARIS—Neither Hotlips nor I were born here, or anywhere nearby, nor do we hold the precious carte…
Read MoreThe decency chasm
by David Benjamin “Let us not assassinate this lad further. You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?” ―Attorney Joseph N. Welch, Army-McCarthy hearings, 9 June 1954 PARIS—Donald Trump is an indecent man. Worse than that—in the immortal formulation of Joe Welch, castigating…
Read More“Professional”
by David Benjamin “A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” —Richard Bach PARIS—When I was in high school, it was my devoutest wish to call myself a writer. Lately, in book talks and public presentations, I’ve amended my title to “professional writer.” The rub is, what have I done to merit this presumption?……
Read MoreThe silence of the regulars
by David Benjamin “The fact is, I don’t know where my ideas come from. Nor does any writer. The only real answer is to drink way too much coffee and buy yourself a desk that doesn’t collapse when you beat your head against it.” ― Douglas Adams PARIS—The fat girl was asking after me. Hotlips…
Read More“What will we tell the children?”
by David Benjamin “The objects of which Paris folks are fond– literature, art, medicine, and adultery.” — Mark Twain MADISON, Wis.—During one of my Paris sojourns a few years ago, I was visibly perplexed (Hotlips said to me, “You look perplexed. What’s gong on?”) by a big demonstration in Paris over a proposed French law…
Read MoreJim Otis’ gun
by David Benjamin “He opened the passenger side. He flipped open the glovebox and gently withdrew his Colt .44, a gun he rarely heeled and never fired. Once in a while, he displayed it for effect. It looked pretty much like the gun that John Wayne and Clint Eastwood had used to blow the brains……
Read MoreThe man on Undecided Street
by David Benjamin “The election makes me think of a story of a man who was dying. He had only two minutes to live, so he sent for a clergyman and asked him, ‘Where is the best place to go to?’ He was undecided about it. So the minister told him that each place had…
Read MoreFact Check: Kamala Harris is alive. Honest!
by David Benjamin “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, okay? It’s, like, incredible.” — Donald Trump, 23 Jan. ‘16 It all started with a question from ABC News’ David Muir during the September 10 presidential debate. Muir asked ex-president Donald Trump his position…
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