Personal
Siberia for naughty boys
by David Benjamin “I had a doctor that gave me a letter — a very strong letter on the heels.” — Donald John Trump MADISON, Wis. — If, around 1960, I’d been a kid in the Soviet Union, it would have been my own private Siberia. If I’d been a kid in France, Devil’s…
Read MoreMy hayseed handicap
My hayseed handicap By David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — A few unrelated events sent me back this week. First, there were indications all around town that a new school year was starting. This lent a measure of urgency to my dialog with a young barista at my morning coffee joint, named Tay, who was making…
Read MoreHeartland carnage
Heartland carnage By David Benjamin “You must never run out on the meadow. There might be danger. Out there, we’re unprotected.” — Bambi’s mother MADISON, Wis. — If you’re a deer or a driver in Wisconsin, sooner or later, your number’s up. Archie, my grandfather was an avid motorist who managed to dodge deer on…
Read MoreA note of ambivalent thanks
A note of ambivalent thanks by David Benjamin “Lord every year we gather here/ To eat around this table/ Give us the strength to stomach as much/ As fast as we are able…” — Loudon Wainwright III MADISON, Wis. — Thank God that’s over. At some point on every third Thursday in November, it dawns…
Read MoreThe boyhood of the unraveling pants
The boyhood of the unraveling pants by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — As I was riding the Métro in Paris awhile back, face-to-face with a lovely young thing, I noted — with a familiar sense of perplexity — that both the knee areas in her custom-blemished Levi-Strauss 501 jeans were torn and ravaged, framing her lovely…
Read MoreShutterbug
Shutterbug by David Benjamin “Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face, the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited, and the wealth and confusion man has created. It is a major force in explaining man to man.” — Edward Steichen MADISON, Wis. — My camera bag, which weighs…
Read More"Keeping a book"
“Keeping a book” by David Benjamin “A neighbor had a score sheet from the last game between the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers. He recalled the whole game inning by inning, just looking at the scorecard. It was almost like watching a rabbi read scripture. Here he was recalling the whole game. It was…
Read MoreIt's a holey whole hole and it just – plain – isn't
It’s a holey whole hole and it just – plain – isn’t by David Benjamin “For one who reads, there is no limit to the number of lives that may be lived, for fiction, biography, and history offer an inexhaustible number of lives in many parts of the world, in all periods of time.” ―…
Read MoreA philosophic interlude at Le Fumoir
A philosophic interlude at Le Fumoir by David Benjamin “Homer tells us also that Sisyphus had put Death in chains.” — Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus PARIS — Something about this joint gets me to over-thinking. Maybe it’s the art on the walls. My favorite is a painting of two gauzy and anorexic art-deco…
Read MorePapa's thumbnail
Papa’s thumbnail by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — My grandfather’s hands fascinated me. Papa, as we called him, put in fifty years at the Milwaukee Road frog shops in Tomah. He was a machinist, repairing switches and the huge steel “frogs” that intersected rail lines. When he arrived home after his eight hours, I would…
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