This seems to have been an especially strong year in fiction. It seems as though every book I have read recently has merited enthusiastic jigs. Perhaps I've simply become better at choosing what I read. Who cares. The result is that I'm a happy reader. Atmospheric Disturbances is a wow book. It is a gift. I had heard Rivka Galchen's name, and I had seen the book's striking cover, but I was not ready for such an excellent work. I was, in fact, poised to hate this book. It has an epigram… Read More
It's finally out, and it is a lovely little book if I do say so myself. And boy, it seems so much cleverer now that it is bound and formatted. It's too late for Christmas, but all of your philosophical friends and relatives would no doubt appreciate A Dialogue on Consciousness as a New Year's present. Great for birthdays, holidays, and hell, even Fridays. Amazon… Read More
Salvatore Scibona is an extraordinary writer. His first book, The End, was nominated this year for The National Book award, and I'd say there is a very good chance he would have won it had the staggeringly good trilogy by Matthiesson not been allowed in the race. What's even more impressive, I suspect this author will only get better. Scibona is a crafter of sentences in the DeLillo tradition--and in fact his dialogue, at times, feels like that of the Don. His… Read More
Looks as though the RIAA has decided that spending more money on prosecution than it received in eventual settlement was not a good idea after all. Apparently suing housewives for hundreds of thousands isn't good for their image either. File swappers should wait before celebrating, however. I suspect the RIAA is just getting smarter. They claim their new policy is to work with ISPs to discontinue, charge more for, or otherwise screw with the service of those found sharing. We'll see how it goes. There is a Turkish proverb about a mouse that, when unable to get through his hole ties a pumpkin to his ass and gives it another try. This sounds like… Read More
Several years ago I was so excited about these guys. Liela Moss has such a cool, through the cigarette fog voice, and the band seemed to have the Velvet Undergroung drive down pat. They never really lived up to the potential their first two eps showed, however, and the new(ish) album only disappoints further. I mean, all the pieces are there, and some of the songs still have the right energy, but most of the time The DS just comes off sounding like a poor man's Metric. Without a doubt these guys sound best when… Read More
Drawerb is posting top tens, including the one listed here a few days ago. So far there are excellent lists from Patrick Wall and Eric Greenwood. Good stuff all around. Read More
A new study finds that certain brain functions of some low-income 9- and 10-year-olds pale in comparison with those of wealthy children and that the difference is almost equivalent to the damage from a stroke.
This from a study to be published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience this year. This raises some important questions in political philosophy, and should cause us to seriously question certain free market conceptions of justice that presume… Read More
This seems to have been an especially strong year in fiction. It seems as though every book I have read recently has merited enthusiastic jigs. Perhaps I've simply become better at choosing what I read. Who cares. The result is that I'm a happy reader. Atmospheric Disturbances is a wow book. It is a gift. I had heard Rivka Galchen's name, and I had seen the book's striking cover, but I was not ready for such an excellent work. I was, in fact, poised to hate this book. It has an epigram… Read More
It's finally out, and it is a lovely little book if I do say so myself. And boy, it seems so much cleverer now that it is bound and formatted. It's too late for Christmas, but all of your philosophical friends and relatives would no doubt appreciate A Dialogue on Consciousness as a New Year's present. Great for birthdays, holidays, and hell, even Fridays. 
Salvatore Scibona is an extraordinary writer. His first book, The End, was nominated this year for The National Book award, and I'd say there is a very good chance he would have won it had the staggeringly good trilogy by Matthiesson not been allowed in the race. What's even more impressive, I suspect this author will only get better. Scibona is a crafter of sentences in the DeLillo tradition--and in fact his dialogue, at times, feels like that of the Don. His… 
Several years ago I was so excited about these guys. Liela Moss has such a cool, through the cigarette fog voice, and the band seemed to have the Velvet Undergroung drive down pat. They never really lived up to the potential their first two eps showed, however, and the new(ish) album only disappoints further. I mean, all the pieces are there, and some of the songs still have the right energy, but most of the time The DS just comes off sounding like a poor man's Metric. Without a doubt these guys sound best when… 