Books To Jump Up and Down Over
Magic Hours by Tom Bissell: This marvelous collection of essays chronicles everything from film shoots to novelists rescued from oblivion. (The essay on the Underground Literary Alliance, with its portrait of raucous factions, unexpectedly reveals how soft today's literary world has become.) But if you peer between the cracks of these smart pieces, you may very well see how cultural lives are formed from the most unexpected life choices. And as we follow Bissell's development as a writer over the years, that goes for Bissell as well. (Bat Segundo interview with Bissell)
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway: Harkaway's latest novel greatly improves on his previous book, The Gone-Away World, which I'm already on record as praising. Angelmaker adopts genre elements without ever feeling like a genre book, and it leads me to believe that Harkaway is well on his way to a narrative grace close to China Miéville's. Yet inexplicably this very fun book, which includes an eightysomething badass named Edie Banister, a mysterious mechanical object that may destroy the world, farcical scenarios involving lawyers and the police, and some unexpectedly moving moments about fatherhood, doesn't appear to be getting much attention in American newspapers. Nothing from the snobs at The New York Times Book Review, nothing from The Washington Post. And since I can't get Harkaway on Bat Segundo, I hope this Jump Up and Down mention gets you hopping as well.
The Age of Insight by Eric Kandel: Unless you're really pressed for time, forget Jonah Lehrer. If you want to understand creativity and its relationship to neuroscience, then the bowtie-wearing Nobel laureate is your man. In addition to being a physically beautiful book (you will drool over many of the paintings), there are helpful overviews on optical illusions, science, biographical backgrounds, and many vital figures from the Vienna Secession. Kandel's enthusiasm (and his call for greater unity between the humanities and science) is contagious.
Sex Archive
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Maybe I’m Daft, But In What Way is This Plotline “Smart”?
Posted on July 14, 2006 | 1 Comment“Smart Girls Need Smart Porn”: “But the plot is one I would enjoy in a book. A human baby, Zuma, is abducted from Earth and taken to the other side... -
PETA Will Be All Over This One
Posted on June 21, 2006 | 2 CommentsScripps Howard: “Upon being seen, Trenta said, ‘It’s my dog,’ and, ‘What’s the problem?’ The male dog ran and hid behind the deputies, according to a report released Tuesday.” Questions... -
Bringing New Meaning to “Working the Room”
Posted on June 14, 2006 | 1 CommentEric Splitznagel: “When I went on a nationwide bookstore tour last May (to promote my memoir, Fast Forward: Confessions of a Porn Screenwriter), it seemed that everybody with even a... -
To Porn or Not to Porn, That is the Question
Posted on June 13, 2006 | 1 CommentA pal of mine attends a sex writers reading and a burlesque show, lives to tell the tale and invents an impromptu game on the spot: “I started playing a... -
Once the Lawyers Sort This All Out, the Sky’s the Limit
Posted on June 8, 2006 | No CommentsThe Guardian: “But Campion’s recent New York crime thriller, In the Cut, incurred the wrath of US censors for the inclusion of what appeared to be an explicit (and narratively... -
Christopher Hitchens — Cocksucking Conspiracy Theorist?
Posted on June 7, 2006 | 1 CommentVanity Fair: “Stay with me. I’ve been doing the hard thinking for you. The three-letter “job,” with its can-do implications, also makes the term especially American. Perhaps forgotten as the... -
Blame It On the Bellboy
Posted on June 5, 2006 | No CommentsApparently, Umberto Billo, a Venetian hotel porter, is today’s “living sex legend,” having slept with 8,000 women. This blog vows to track down the mysterious bellboy, who, upon being fired,... -
You’re Spending £7 Million on a Sex Park And You Mean to Tell Me That There’s NO MONEY Left Over for the Rides?
Posted on May 25, 2006 | No CommentsBBC: “A £7m sex theme park, which has no rides, is to open in London’s West End later this year. Visitors to Amora – The Academy of Sex and Relationships... -
Well, That and a Sizable Paycheck, One Presumes
Posted on April 24, 2006 | 1 CommentThis guy (NSFW) claims he can help you take better dirty pictures. Among some of his tips: “Seem complicated? Not at all. You just have to concentrate on a few... -
Brings New Meaning to That “Moist Gummy Bear” Offered to Jeffrey Jones at the End of Ferris Bueller
Posted on April 22, 2006 | 2 CommentsGummy Sex (via MeFi) -
Lamarck Would Be Ashamed, But the Matter Must Be Settled
Posted on April 21, 2006 | 8 CommentsOver at Michelle’s, some interesting questions have been raised: Is sex better than writing? Is writing better than masturbation? And, seeing as how writing and masturbation serve practically the same... -
Also Something to Worry About: People Complaining About Dry Spells Who Never Leave the House
Posted on April 7, 2006 | No CommentsPhysorg: “‘The de-interaction of sex is something I worry about,’….Heiman said in a conference call with reporters.” (Emphasis added.) (via Susannah Breslin) -
But Does “Reindeer Games” Really Count as Influential?
Posted on March 30, 2006 | No CommentsThe Greatest and Most Influential Erotic/Sexual Films and Scenes: an amazingly detailed list and good reference point for those (like me) who are interested in this subject. I didn’t know,... -
A Bit Forced, But Any Film That Legitimizes Quirky Relationships is Good by Me
Posted on March 25, 2006 | No Comments“Polly Wally” (including a DFW reference) (Thanks but WTF, John?) (Also: “Gang Bang: The Musical,” “Do You Take It?” (my favorite) and “MILF Hotline.”) -
David Lazarus: A Journalist Who Can’t Rise from the Dead
Posted on March 24, 2006 | 1 CommentEthical Question: Aren’t you really setting yourself up for disaster when you email naked photos of yourself to “a variety of online correspondents?” The whole idea that this “Gene” character... -
Books Subject to Governmental Approval
Posted on March 12, 2006 | 2 CommentsThe Book Standard reports that the House of Representatives have added a clause to the Children’s Safety and Violent Crime Reduction Act of 2005 in which books which offer “any... -
Yeah, Man, But It’s a Dry Heat!
Posted on March 9, 2006 | 2 CommentsBill Paxton went nuts when The View host Joy Behar asked fellow Big Love actor Chloe Sevigny about the infamous Brown Bunny BJ. An “insider” objects: “‘The View’ is a... -
No Ring Tone Needed for the Subsequent Leer
Posted on February 15, 2006 | No CommentsHideto Tomabechi is a genius. -
Blowjobs Are the New Missionary
Posted on February 15, 2006 | No CommentsCluechick: “One poor fellow responded that he was into ‘BJ/HJ/FJ … kinky, huh?’ I, of course, thought that this must be a different set of activities than I thought, because,... -
Caitlain Flanagan Declares War on Cocksucking
Posted on January 24, 2006 | 5 CommentsCaitlin Flanagan jumps the shark. No really. This book review has to be read to be believed. Everything from teenage oral sex to Ms. Flangan herself tittering at the prospect... -
They Keep You Doped With Religion and Sex and TV
Posted on January 21, 2006 | 4 CommentsTelevision, it seems, is far from a mere brainsucker. Apparently, it prevents you from sucking other things. Which, of course, really sucks. -
Cultural Boredom = Codeword for Vanilla?
Posted on January 20, 2006 | No CommentsI only post this because Elizabeth Crane is a bad influence. A few years from now, when the midcareer profile writers sum up the artistic achievements of Drew Barrymore and... -
Bringing New Meaning to the Term “Coffee Date”
Posted on January 16, 2006 | 4 CommentsWebMD: “Her study shows that the caffeinated females didn’t just skitter around their cages aimlessly. Instead, they specifically sought a male sex partner and weren’t particularly interested in socializing with... -
Friday Night Perversions
Posted on January 13, 2006 | 2 CommentsIn lieu of content (we wrote a 3,000 word post in which we were entirely honest and candid about ourselves in a way that we aren’t normally here and lost... -
Giving New Meaning to the Pinhole Camera
Posted on January 10, 2006 | 1 CommentThe ultimate Flickr tag: First Goatse -
The Most Dangerous Idea
Posted on January 5, 2006 | 2 CommentsThere’s been a lot of ballyhoo over this list. Many major minds, most of them apparently Caucasian and male, have been consulted for their “most dangerous ideas.” Presumably the whole... -
It’s Good to Be a Schizophrenic Artist
Posted on November 30, 2005 | 1 CommentThe Guardian: “A survey comparing mental health and the number of sexual partners among the general population, artists and schizophrenics found that artists are more likely to share key behavioural... -
You Don’t Need Game Theory to Unearth the Real Answers
Posted on November 29, 2005 | No CommentsIn light of newfound mathetmatical formulas unearthed by certain folks, we offer the following easy-to-understand corollary: β = (L – P) X 500,000 Where L = last time drinker got... -
Bad Sex Award Longlist
Posted on November 29, 2005 | 2 CommentsThe Bad Sex Award longlist has been announced. And it looks like John Updike, ever the fey pervert, has finally made it into the mix. About damn time, if you... -
In Short, God Dictates That Marital Conflicts Are Best Resolved by Fucking Your Spouse’s Brains Out
Posted on November 20, 2005 | No CommentsMr. Jared Wilson may be my sworn rival, but this link of his is too unintentionally hilarious to pass up. Under “2. A Sexually fulfilled husband is a scriptural mandate.”...