Square Pegs

A long time ago, we witnessed a virulent, specific argument about a film (Full Metal Jacket). We watched as our friends Ellen and Brad turned red, pounded furniture, and put up their dukes. We were dumbfounded by the passion and divergence of opinions this film raised in Ellen and Brad. Neither had seen it, of course. The argument left them with a mutual distrust of their opinions. There is a trend toward bashing art you haven’t seen. It happens far too often. John McCain hasn’t actually seen Farenheit 911, yet commented upon scenes. Scenes that weren’t in the film. Seeing, […]

Have we mentioned our esteem for the press? Good, then we can move on. Sara Nelson starts the day with a story that would almost work…if only she’d found a better example. She says that actors are sidling out of their glittery lives with novels (novels!) in hand, seeking yet another revenue stream. We will pause a for moment to reflect on their gall. Done? If not, you can catch up later — we’re busy people here. Alas, the slithery, slimy actor she chooses is, well, a writer. Not that his behavior should be excused, oh no. But Chris Elliott

You can’t practice medicine without a license. Or rather, you can, but it’s best not to get caught. Same for cutting hair. One must be board certified and reasonably trained in basic hygiene. Now, law, well, it’s all a matter of charming the jury. No need for formal schooling or that sort of thing. Truly, if one can represent oneself, why go to the bother of law school. So many tests, so many sleepless nights… We’ve noted the fact that anyone can declare themself a writer. The tools are easily purchased, the skills are taught in public schools, and there

It is always a pleasure to have our suspicions confirmed. Not that we require such events to occur — we remain firm in our convictions that we’re always right. It makes life so much easier. But we knew there was something more to this “prolific” thing than hard work. It was simply too pat an answer, too obvious a solution. We’ve read enough to know that there is always more than what appears on the surface. Now, to be honest, we never considered pretzels as a performance enhancing drug, but we admit we’re not much into experimenting. Fear of addiction

Like the rest of our thoughts are so well-planned. For weeks now, we have been titillated with stories about the Booker Prize. Judges have written about their experience (for those who missed the articles, we’ll summarize: you read a lot of books) and oddsmakers have done whatever analysis oddsmakers do, resulting in predictions of winners. It’s all very glamorous and exciting. We want to be part of this glittering world. The stories are such that even mainstream American media have taken (brief) note. That is to say, information has popped up in the odd publication. It makes us wonder how

To see the truth of a nation divided, you need look no further than our family. On one side, we have the mother, the youngest sister, and us. We are The Readers. On the other side is another sister and two brothers. They Don’t Read. Well, the sister sort of reads, but not so you’d be able to pin her down on the issue. The mother, being a librarian and natural reader, did everything right. Read to us from Day One. Read to us during meals (are fond memories of mealtimes are more the result of King Arthur than the

We’ve thought long and hard about this summer thing — it seems everyone takes their vacation at the same time. Not us. We’re looking at sometime in the Christmas range. However, we are taking a long weekend. Yes, it’s possible to hit an island resort without ever leaving California. Heck, without leaving Los Angeles. That this came as a shock to the mother (Southern California native) will go all but uncommented upon. Except for the part where we ask, what state did she think it belonged to? We are traveling unencumbered (i.e., the laptop is remaining at home, but we’re

We were all excited about the Booker longlist until we found out there’s already a favorite to run away with the whole thing. It’s sort of like knowing who’s going to win the marathon before Mile 20. Okay, so it’s usually obvious by then, but we’re sure our point is well-taken. This is a bummer because we’re quite taken with the subject matter of Susanna Clark’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, though we remain, as always, perplexed by the inclusion of an item not yet released on the list. Yes, we know, but allow us our moment of confusion. It

Hello everyone. My name is Gena Showalter and BookSquare is graciously having me over as a guest. I’m being a brave little girl today and venturing from my cave to answer questions about writing and the publishing process. I’ll be with you from August 30th – September 3rd. I may regret this later, may even claim the aliens made me do it, but I’ll answer anything. First, let me give you a little background about me. I’m twenty-eight years old, weigh one hundred. . . Wait, wrong info. I sold seven books to two major publishers before the first one

There was a point, we were approximately 9, when our music teacher took our mother-the-school-librarian aside and said, “Maybe the flute isn’t the right instrument for her.” This was followed a year later, “Maybe the violin isn’t the right instrument for her.” And a year later, when our piano teacher, not privy to our elementary school music teacher’s thoughts, chose to forego our mother’s payments, saying, “Maybe the piano isn’t the right instrument for her.” In the interest of time, we will not recount our long and unfortunate experiences with chorus. Our fantasies of being a famous rock star were