Posts by David Benjamin
The original Chucky
by David Benjamin “Death’s gruesome face taunts:/ soulless eyes, crimson grimace. I really hate clowns.” ― Katherine Applegate MADISON, Wis.—Apparently, like its protagonist, the “Chucky” horror-film and TV franchise will never expire. I’ve just noticed promos for a new season of episodes featuring the further exploits of a homicidal boy doll who bears…
Read MoreJohn Ford’s mortal sin
by David Benjamin “The river was dyed with the blood of the slaughtered for two hundred yards. The approximate loss was upward of five hundred killed, but few of the officers escaping. My loss was about twenty killed. It is hoped that these facts will demonstrate to the Northern people that Negro soldiers cannot…
Read MoreMichelangelo strokes his brush
by David Benjamin “I feel naked without a Hi-Liter in my pocket.” — David Benjamin MADISON, Wis.—What would you underline? In ninth grade, when I started buying books—instead of depending solely on the public library—I fell almost instinctively into the habit of underlining paragraphs, sentences, passages, even single words that tickled my fancy.……
Read MoreThe ravaging of Mr. Bartley
by David Benjamin “Colorful demonstrations and weekend marches are vital but alone are not powerful enough to stop wars. Wars will be stopped only when soldiers refuse to fight, when workers refuse to load weapons onto ships and aircraft, when people boycott the economic outposts of Empire.” ― Arundhati Roy MADISON, Wis.—There was…
Read MoreMy name is Sergeant Fozmerlude … I’m a floop.
by David Benjamin “Mary had a blicken oof. Its prooze was white as werf. And glutendot that Mary gleat, The oof was sure to gerf.” ― Garry Moore MADISON, Wis.—Sean Connery stopped me cold the other night while I was watching The Untouchables, director Brian De Palma’s masterpiece. Playing the role of tough…
Read MoreThe other me
by David Benjamin “I just like the idea of trying to write for all those versions of me out there, wherever they are.” —Sherman Alexie “The good writer seems to be writing about himself (but never is) but has his eye always on that thread of the Universe which runs through himself, and all……
Read MoreThe worst of the worst in the whole wide world
by David Benjamin “We shall fight against them, throw them in prisons and destroy them.” —Vladimir Putin “When I look at myself in the first grade and I look at myself now, I’m basically the same.” ― Donald Trump MADISON, Wis.—For a while, I’ve been thinking about who deserves a Top Ten spot…
Read MoreThe Liz quiz: Angela or Martha
by David Benjamin “As if you were on fire from within/ The moon lives in the lining of your skin.” —Pablo Neruda PARIS—For most of us, there are few greater shocks in life than to be seen as attractive. It’s against human nature to look in the mirror and perceive beauty unalloyed and…
Read MoreThe Frankencookies and artisanal Whoppers of Paris
by David Benjamin “How can anyone govern a nation that has two hundred and forty-six different kinds of cheese?” —Charles de Gaulle PARIS—The latest trend in French comestibles, started by a baker with too much time on his hands, is the “crookie,” an otherwise traditional croissant grafted with chocolate-chip cookie dough and then…
Read MoreThe inwardness of the dead-serious teenager
Every spring, the Robert M. Schuster Short Prose Awards at La Follette High School in Madison afford me the opportunity to read young writers’ work and to examine how these kids’ see and depict their world, compared to how, why and what I wrote when I was their age. PARIS— I was a teenage……
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