Posts by David Benjamin
The Windrip Prophecy
by David Benjamin “An honest propagandist for any Cause, that is, one who honestly studies and figures out the most effective way of putting over his Message, will learn fairly early that it is not fair to ordinary folks—it just confuses them—to try to make them swallow all the true facts that would be suitable…
Read More“You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve?”
by David Benjamin “I want you all to get up out of your chairs, I want you to get up right now and go to the window, open it, stick your head out and yell, ‘I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take this anymore!’” —Howard Beale (Peter Finch), Network, 1976 MADISON, Wis.—Everybody recognizes…
Read MoreThe Dr. Seuss effect
by David Benjamin “On the fifteenth of May, in the jungle of Nool, In the heart of the day, in the cool of the pool, He was splashing … enjoying the jungle’s great joys … When Horton the elephant heard a small noise … ” ―Dr. Seuss, Horton Hears a Who MADISON, Wis.—I’ve always believed—and……
Read MoreMean girls, then and now
by David Benjamin “The dogs were tearing at the girls’ bodies. Irma [Grese] came closer to observe what they were doing. Her eyes were bloodshot. The sight of the blood seemed to intoxicate her. She panted. She was sexually excited—everybody could see that. We stood in a trance, as at a gladiatorial combat.” —Gisella Perl,…
Read MoreLooking backward at the Next Big Thing
by David Benjamin But Mousie, thou art no thy-lane, In proving foresight may be vain: The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men Gang aft agley, An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, For promis’d joy! — Robert Burns Eighteen years ago, when mobile telephony was only “3G” and “smartphones” were still…
Read MoreThe florid first page
by David Benjamin “My father was a stuffy man.” ―William Goldman, The Temple of Gold, first paragraph MADISON, Wis.—A while ago, I was stationed among my books at Literatus & Co., an airy and comfortable bookstore in Watertown, Wis. During a lull in my lull-intensive author appearance, I plucked a book from a display and……
Read MoreWho was that masked man?
by David Benjamin “… You may never know which colleague posted your address on the internet or which neighbor anonymously reported your undocumented status to ICE. But, say, when those immigration agents show up at your asylum hearing, you can bet that at least some of them will be wearing masks and hiding their identities,…
Read MoreA wedding in Tokyo
by David Benjamin “… [Kilmar] Abrego García and [Jennifer] Vasquez Sura — who had married through a glass partition at the ICE detention center… ” ― Washington Post, 19 Apr. MADISON, Wis.—On our lavatory wall in Paris, there’s one of those “What’s wrong with this picture?” puzzles. There are, in the photo, about two dozen…
Read MoreThe unbearable whiteness of being
by David Benjamin “This is a country for white men, and by God, as long as I am President, it shall be a government for white men.” —President Andrew Johnson, 1866 MADISON, Wis.—It did not occur to me, until maybe my eighth birthday, that I was white. Once that awareness had sunk in, I shrugged…
Read MoreThe homogeneity fallacy
by David Benjamin “It’s important for authors to be flexible, but they should keep writing what they love to write. Writing is a profession, I understand, but it is also an art. Be true to it.” ―Kailin Gow MADISON, Wis.—Lately, the suppression of “diversity” has become the political mission of the right wing not just……
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