Books To Jump Up and Down Over
The Call by Yannick Murphy: The always interesting author of Here They Come and Signed, Mata Hari returns with a novel that whips up a worldview from a rather quirky set of limitations: namely, the call logs that a veterinarian maintains as his son is unexpectedly put into a coma and an unforgiving economy denies him work. What emerges is a surprisingly optimistic, often funny, and very moving account on how one family uses acceptance and forgiveness as a way to atone for hard knocks. (Bat Segundo interview with Murphy)
Birds of Paradise by Diana Abu-Jaber: Forget Franzen and Eugenides. If you're looking for a social novel that counts, Diana Abu-Jaber is the author you're looking for. Building from the free-form exploration of consciousness and identity in Crescent and the gripping procedural structure of Origin, Abu-Jaber's latest novel is her finest, equally fluent with gutterpunk culture and smarmy real estate men. It has been suggested by The Washington Post's Ron Charles that you will likely gain some pounds while reading this novel. This is certainly true. Abu-Jaber's description of food is so precise that it often made me want to do more cooking. But I very much admired the way in which Abu-Jaber presents all her characters as unwitting victims of rough capitalism, which permits them some dignity even as they perform terrible acts.
The Last of the Live Nude Girls by Sheila McClear: This memoir isn't so much about the decline of the Times Square peepshow, as it is about one young woman's efforts to pull herself up by by her bootstraps when presented with few economic options. Filled with self-introspective candor and a quiet dignity, McClear's story is one that might befall any of us in these volatile times. While McClear does get back on her feet, her book leads one contemplating the terrible fates of other young women now moving to New York and falling into deadlier vocations. (Bat Segundo interview with McClear)
Journalism Archive
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Jason Allardyce: How a Sunday Times Journalist Ripped Off Ian Rankin, Bat Segundo, the Observer, and an Australian Producer
Posted on April 24, 2011 | 8 CommentsIn which a former "Scottish Journalist of the Year" steals quotes from numerous sources without accreditation for 54% of his article. -
Why Devin Faraci is Unfit to Practice Journalism
Posted on October 24, 2010 | 65 CommentsA thorough explanation on why Devin Faraci is unfit to practice journalism and why the recently launched Badass Digest isn't worth your time. -
Steve Weinberg, Russell Carollo, and Christopher Szecheny — Scientology’s Sleazy Bitches
Posted on February 22, 2010 | 5 CommentsIn today’s Washington Post, Howard Kurtz reports the alarming news that three “journalists” — Steve Weinberg, Russell Carollo, and Christopher Szecheny — were paid money by the Church of Scientology... -
Paul Fischer: The Unpardonable Hack Who Charmed His Fellow Junketeers
Posted on February 5, 2010 | 2 CommentsThere was once a time — before the Internet, or perhaps not at all — in which film critics conducted themselves with something approximating journalistic standards. It was never very... -
Interview with the FTC’s Richard Cleland
Posted on October 5, 2009 | 170 CommentsThis morning, the Federal Trade Commission announced that its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials would be revised in relation to bloggers. The new guidelines (PDF) specified that... -
2009 is Boring By Comparison
Posted on August 4, 2009 | 1 CommentAt the bash at Jimmy’s that Warner Brothers records gave for Alan Price (he wrote the score for “O Lucky Man!” and performs in the film), Malcolm McDowell’s cock was... -
RIP Walter Cronkite
Posted on July 19, 2009 | 3 CommentsWalter Cronkite died on Friday. He was great and irreplaceable. The last living newsman that America could trust, save perhaps Jimmy Breslin. One views the above clip in our present... -
Three Producers Fired from American News Project?
Posted on June 25, 2009 | No CommentsI received a tip that three producers at the American News Project had been fired. The American News Project is directed by Nick Penniman, who also serves as the Executive... -
The Bat Segundo Show: Arthur Phillips
Posted on May 26, 2009 | No CommentsArthur Phillips appeared on The Bat Segundo Show #288. Arthur Phillips is most recently the author of The Song is You. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Reconsidering the playlists and those... -
The Covenant
Posted on March 17, 2009 | No CommentsSome years ago, not long after Herb Caen’s death, I decided to make a series of pilgrimages to the San Francisco Public Library to dust my hands and wrangle microfilm.... -
NBCC Rumormongers About Washington Post
Posted on January 16, 2009 | 9 CommentsLate Friday, the National Book Critics Circle demonstrated its commitment to accuracy by reporting a rumor that The Washington Post Book World was closing up shop. Instead of picking up... -
The Bat Segundo Show: Norah Vincent
Posted on January 9, 2009 | No CommentsNorah Vincent appeared on The Bat Segundo Show #258. Norah Vincent is most recently the author of Voluntary Madness. Condition of Mr. Segundo: Challenging pseudonymous authorities about his voluntary commitment.... -
What Everybody Can Learn from Anita Bruzzese
Posted on December 17, 2008 | 2 CommentsAs a guy who writes unapologetically for both print and online outlets, I have a lot of fun reading smug and woefully out-of-touch posts from alleged “journalists” dictating precisely how... -
Why Canadian Journalists Rock
Posted on December 8, 2008 | 1 Comment -
Idiot Pundits: New Jobs for Out-of-Work Journalists?
Posted on October 24, 2008 | No Comments -
Why Can’t More Press Conferences End Up Like This?
Posted on October 3, 2008 | 2 CommentsFrom a press conference with Newcastle United interim manager Joe Kinnear: JK Which one is Simon Bird [Daily Mirror's north-east football writer]? SB Me. JK You’re a cunt. SB Thank... -
A Brief Interlude
Posted on October 2, 2008 | 1 CommentSome brief housekeeping between these longass NYFF reports: I had intended to write a report on Saturday afternoon’s panel, which I believe was called “Holy Shit! The End of Film... -
Bill O’Reilly Doesn’t Understand the First Amendment
Posted on September 19, 2008 | 2 Comments -
Responding to Orwell: September 15
Posted on September 16, 2008 | No CommentsGeorge: Seventy years from your epoch, the average person getting a gustatory rush from news and information enjoys considerably more than two newspapers. We now have RSS feeds propagating endless... -
“Hard” Questions
Posted on September 3, 2008 | 4 CommentsThe above interview, which involved Campbell Brown questioning McCain campaign manager Tucker Bounds, caused McCain to cancel a planned interview with Larry King. The reason cited by McCain’s camp? “A... -
Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! Producers, AP Photographer Arrested
Posted on September 1, 2008 | 6 CommentsThe Washington Post is reporting that Democracy Now! radio host Amy Goodman was arrested in St. Paul after inquiring with the police over the arrest of two Democracy Now! producers... -
Bob Costas, The Only NBC Interviewer with Balls
Posted on August 13, 2008 | No CommentsCOSTAS: But given China’s growing strength and America’s own problems, realistically how much leverage and influence does the U.S. have here? THE PRESIDENT: First of all, I don’t see America... -
The Future of Newspapers and Litblogs: A Thought Experiment
Posted on July 30, 2008 | 12 CommentsIn yesterday’s Huffington Post, publicist Lissa Warren expressed her dismay in “the seemingly widely-held notion that these book sections are being adequately replaced by blogs.” She complained that blogs “don’t... -
Tony Snow Expires
Posted on July 12, 2008 | 7 CommentsOne week after the death of Jesse Helms (and, alas, Thomas M. Disch), the universe illustrated once again that, despite its many abominations, it still maintains a self-correcting impulse. Tony... -
Los Angeles Times To Lay Off 150 Editorial Staffers
Posted on July 2, 2008 | 1 CommentRadar is reporting that 150 staffers in the newsroom are to be laid off and that the number of pages published each week will be reduced by 15%. I have... -
Associated Press Negotiates With Sock Puppet Organization
Posted on June 19, 2008 | No CommentsTeresa Nielsen Hayden has done some investigation, and it appears that the so-called Media Bloggers Association, which purports to represent bloggers in the AP nonsense (and sure as hell doesn’t... -
The Bat Segundo Show: Errol Morris
Posted on June 19, 2008 | No CommentsErrol Morris appeared on The Bat Segundo Show (#205). Morris is most recently the director of Standard Operating Procedure. (There is also an accompanying book written by Philip Gourevitch.) Guest:... -
Covering War
Posted on June 18, 2008 | No Comments -
Mark Ames Shuts Down eXile
Posted on June 12, 2008 | 1 CommentRussia has become a deadly place for journalists of all stripes. In 2006, journalist Anna Politkovskaya was mysteriously killed after criticizing the war in Chechnya. Thankfully, Mark Ames remains alive.... -
Edward Douglas, Hopeless Hack and Amental Film “Journalist” — Part One
Posted on June 8, 2008 | 8 CommentsNew York hack “journalist” Edward Douglas, a creative typist employed by ComingSoon.net and an intellectual coprophiliac quite happy to scarf down the moist cloacal deposits offered by film publicists, recently...