Posts by David Benjamin
The aural imperative
by David Benjamin “ … You are an old man who thinks in terms of nations and peoples. There are no nations. There are no peoples. There are no Russians. There are no Arabs. There are no third worlds. There is no West. there is only one holistic system of systems, one vast and immane,……
Read MoreFaster than the speediest pedestrian
MADISON, Wis.—My worst bicycle crash happened when I was in sixth grade, coming down the hill from St. Mary’s School. The hill, pretty much the only one in town, was steep, wide and paved for speed. I wasn’t astride my bike, just perched on the left-side pedal, coasting toward Ninneman’s Funeral Home. My path was…
Read MoreBehind closed doors at the Conclave
by David Benjamin THE VATICAN, 29 April—The first day of the conclave of cardinals to choose a successor to Pope Francis has ended in traditional disarray. Afterward, two furtive figures, recognizable as a Monsignor O’Malley and Cardinal Bellini, an American prelate who bears an eerie resemblance to Stanley Tucci, enter the Chapel men’s room. Msgr.…
Read MoreThe power and peril of preconception
by David Benjamin “That the Jester should be brother to the Sage may sound like blasphemy, yet our language reflects the close relationship : the word ‘witticism’ is derived from ‘wit’ in its original sense of ingenuity, inventiveness. Jester and savant must both ‘live on their wits’…” ―Arthur Koestler, The Act of Creation MADISON, Wis.—Every……
Read MoreField of miscreants
by David Benjamin “Growing up is a ritual, more deadly than religion, more complicated than baseball, for there seem to be no rules. Everything is experienced for the first time.” ― W.P. Kinsella, Shoeless Joe MADISON, Wis.—In the Wisconsin town where I lived ’til I was thirteen, there were two “official” baseball fields, complete with…
Read MoreThe deep end of the no-talent pool
by David Benjamin “[Peter] Navarro is dumber than a sack of bricks.” — Elon Musk MADISON, Wis.—My friend Smedley has survived for decades as a Washington D.C. “insider.” The secret of his success is a chameleonlike knack for adjusting to the ebb and flow of the ideological tides in American politics. He keenly predicted, during…
Read MoreThe pitfall of expert advice
by David Benjamin “The real trouble with the writing game is that no general rule can be worked out for uniform guidance.” ― Erle Stanley Gardner MADISON, Wis.—A while ago, during my futile search for new literary representation, I got rejected by a New York agent named Peter, whose full name I won’t reveal. Peter……
Read MoreThat’s the way you do the Varsity Drag
by David Benjamin “You gotta do the Black Botton/ Gotta do the Shag/ And the Charleston/ And the Varsity Drag/ Oh, how I love the ladies/ Wear collegiate, collegiate clothes/ We’re so collegiate/ Rather be a ladies/ Rather be a ladies man…” —Good News MADISON, Wis.—When I was sixteen, I added about two pounds to…
Read MoreHail, Oceania!
by David Benjamin “By word and deed, Trump treats Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping as his only real peers. Our allies, by contrast, are our subordinates. It’s as if Putin, Xi and Trump were feudal lords and each were entitled to his own feudal domain.” —David French, NY Times, 23 March MADISON, Wis.—Writing in 1948,…
Read MoreThe trouble with smalltown lit
by David Benjamin “The days of pioneering, of lassies in sunbonnets, and bears killed with axes in piney clearings, are deader now than Camelot; and a rebellious girl is the spirit of that bewildered empire called the American Middlewest.” ―Sinclair Lewis, Main Street MADISON, Wis.—A while ago, I was one of several writers reading passages……
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