Upcoming Events:
Wednesday, 6 May 9 am
Radio Interview with Phil Nee, on “Jim Otis and Smalltown Crime, WRCO Radio, Richland Center, Wis.
Friday, 29 May, 7 pm
Book Talk, Signing and Sale, on “Upstairs and the Jim Otis Series,” Belleville Books, 20 East Main St., Belleville, Ill.
Saturday, 30 May,1-3 pm
Meet & Greet, Signing & Sale of Last Kid Books, at Belleville Books, 20 East Main St., Belleville, Ill.
The Weekly Screed
by David Benjamin George was accident prone. For example, the first time he met Jody’s mother, he boldly leapt into her lap. She was drinking tea at the time, but she only spilled a few drops because George, despite his tendency toward minor, forgivable mishaps, had a knack for soft landings. Jody’s Mom, who…
by David Benjamin “… Even the pigeons are dancing, kissing, going in circles, mounting each other. Paris is the city of love, even for the birds …” ― Samantha Schutz PARIS — We were barely awake yesterday before we were plunging through Métro tunnels, beneath the Seine, resurfacing at the place de la…
by David Benjamin “… The humanities are like the great old Paris Flea Market where, amidst masses of junk, people with a good eye found cast away treasures … They are like a refugee camp where all the geniuses driven out of their jobs and countries by unfriendly regimes are idling …” ― Allan…
by David Benjamin “… The Italian novelist Federico Moccia appears to have been the catalyst for turning the custom into a romantic gesture after his popular book, I Want You, which was made into a 2012 movie, featured a scene of two love interests attaching a padlock on the Ponte Vecchio Bridge in Florence…”…
by David Benjamin “The very essence of romance is uncertainty.” — Oscar Wilde MADISON, Wis.—A lexicographer walks into a bar. More accurately, it’s a gay club. Glenn, the lexicographer, is uneasy—indeed, deeply troubled— not because he’s uncomfortable among the “men” milling, drinking, laughing, talking, flirting and attempting to dance what looks to him…
by David Benjamin “… I believe God has ordained and allowed each one of us to be brought here for this specific moment…” — Rep. Mike Johnson, after election as Speaker of the House HOLLYWOOD — “I’ve got it! I’ve got it, I’ve GOT it!” Louie “The Lip” Lipset, assistant to one of…
by David Benjamin “… We may graduate our students, confer degrees that certify their qualifications as the best and brightest. But we have clearly failed to educate them. We have failed to give them the ethical foundation and moral compass to recognize the basics of humanity…” — Ezekiel J. Emanuel, vice provost for global…
by David Benjamin “Before I start a book, I’ve usually got four hundred pages of notes. Most of them are almost incoherent. But there’s always a moment when you think you’ve got a novel started. You can more or less see how it’s going to work out. After that, it’s just a question of detail.”…
by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — My first assignment in journalism, as a college-student stringer for the Rockford (Ill.) Morning Star, was a murder. Alas, it was no mystery. A guy had been killed in a bar fight in Beloit, Wisconsin. The killer was in jail. My editor wanted me to go over to…
by David Benjamin “This is the way the world ends; not with a bang or a whimper, but with zombies breaking down the back door.” ― Amanda Hocking, Hollowland PARIS — It has long been one of my items of faith that actor Stanley Tucci has never accepted a bad script. This conviction…