Here are some of the stuff I'm reading these days:

Conde Nast Portfolio (April 2008 issue) is fast becoming one of my favorite magazines due to the unique behind-the-scenes angle with which it covers the world of business. In this issue the cover story focuses on the continuing sexism in corporate America. Also notable is the story of an Iraqi good-guy judge who is now hiding in Northern Virginia and spending his days wondering among the isles of his neighborhood Target store. "The Art of Steal" tells how a famous art collector stiffed the rich and famous for many millions of dollars. Continue Reading

Popularity: 2% [?]

"I will not seek, nor will I except the office of President of the United States.  It has come to my attention that the people want more; they want to know how I have done things and when I had done them.  I was not really prepared to answer such difficult, personal, and invasive questions.  It also seems that while there is no company by the name of Bob selling any product, my use of 'What Can Bob do for you?', 'Bob I’m loving it', and 'Bob The Choice of a New Generation' is in violation of some kind of law that I was not aware of.

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Popularity: 2% [?]

It's amazing to me that for some great writers their art is not good enough; that they feel the need to bolster their coordinates by worrying about their position on the largely artificial liberal-conservative divide.

Take David Mamet for example, a playwright whom I admire for his screenplays as well. For some reason most people always mention House of Games (1987) but my favorite Mamet script is Glengarry Glenn Ross (1992).

Mamet this past week has published an amazing piece in the Village Voice the title of which tells it all: "Why I'm No Longer a 'Brain-Dead Liberal.'" Continue Reading

Popularity: 1% [?]

Spider-man has been the Marvel cash cow for some time now. With three mega-successful movies, various animated TV shows, countless licensed products, oh and multiple comic book titles, it’s hard not to have immediate recognition of the Spider-man brand. Spidey is iconic, transcending, and loved for being the ultimate confliction of responsibility versus reward. Unfortunately, throughout the 90’s, it had also become a little tedious and a little absurd. This is not a knock on any of the writers or artists involved in producing the comics. This is a direct stab at all of the people involved that took Stan “the Man” Lee’s vision and started distorting it back in the early to mid 1980’s.

            While many writers and artists were given the thumbs up to take Peter Parker in all new directions, the editors failed to keep it within reason. Many of the readers, me included, loved it when Todd McFarlane introduced Venom into the Spider-man continuum. And nobody can act like they didn’t love the black suit,

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Popularity: 12% [?]

Part 1 of 4

One of my scariest childhood memories is my grandmother taking me to our neighborhood movie theater to see the Disney animation Little Red Riding Hood.

I even forgot how old I was at the time but I remember the shock of watching the big bad wolf eating up both the grandma and the little girl with the red hood! It was the most violent thing I had encountered up until that age.

I remember most of the other kids somehow cheering and having a good time at precisely those scenes where I was trying to hide under my seat. That's why I suppose I always had a rather different take on the issue of "violence in movies" and thought about it for some time.

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Popularity: 2% [?]

A Multitude of Sins (2002), by Richard Ford 

Some writers have been an acquired taste for me. When I first read them it took me a while to slash my way through their impenetrable styles and enter the fragrant garden on the other side. Faulkner is one. Raymond Carver is another.  
 
Yet while reading some others I felt at home from the get go. Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Ford is one such writer. The critically acclaimed master of the unforgettable "The Sportswriter" and "Independence Day" comes up in spades in "Multitude of Sins" (2002), a collection of sensitive short stories each equipped with a powerful search light that probes far down into the uncomfortable recesses of our souls.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

When working to create the ultimate finished product for your self-released title it is imperative that you put out the most polished (book ready) manuscript you can—because in the end—your book is competing against thousands of other potential sales for the would-be buyer.

I have heard that more than 100,000 new fiction titles are released each year and if you weigh out the fact that most of (us) the self-released authors don’t have a substantial financial bankroll to cover the cost of general marketing and advertising, we may only have one real opportunity in the end to prove our worth to a potential audience, no matter how much we believe in the product or many friends (we) you have.

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Popularity: 8% [?]