Aug 25Member-onlyI Worked for a Predatory Law SchoolDoes that make me a predator too? — Not many people get to start a library from scratch. I did. On June 5, 2006, I became the fourteenth employee, and first librarian, at the nation’s newest law school, the Charlotte School of Law. Things were great for a while. Then they weren’t. My boss resigned after less than…Education9 min readEducation9 min read
Aug 24Member-onlyWhat Has My Stepson Jace Been Up To?A tale of love and loss in America’s heartland — That’s my car, above. The one belching flames. Well, I say it’s mine. What I mean is, I am the legal owner. Was the legal owner. I imagine the burned-out hulk is now sitting in some Iowa scrapyard. The car is a 2004 Toyota Corolla, which I bought in 2005…Love6 min readLove6 min read
Published in Sexography·Aug 23Member-onlyHow I Learned About Sex from Popular FictionIt’s an essential outlet, according to scholars — I did not learn about sex in school. I did not learn about it on TV. I did not learn about it from Larry Flynt, Marvin Gaye, or Revenge of the Nerds. Aviaries and apiaries played no part in my sensual education. I didn’t learn about it from my friends…Sex5 min readSex5 min read
Mar 7Member-onlyCensorship? Unfettered Expression? How About Neither?It is okay that some ideas are never shared. — “When a class discussion goes poorly for me,” writes University of Virginia senior Emma Camp in a recent New York Times article, “I can tell.” She relates the story of advancing a controversial opinion during a feminist theory class in her sophomore year. The idea didn’t go over well. The…Writing5 min readWriting5 min read
Published in Fanfare·Feb 4Member-onlyIn Michael Crichton’s World, Respect for Women Went the Way of T-RexJurassic Park creator would have some explaining to do nowadays — Who’s on your popular fiction Mount Rushmore? These aren’t your favorite authors, necessarily, but ones you think best represent the genre writer ethos (however you define that). Okay, I’ll start. First up: Stephen King. America’s bogeyman does it all–novels, short stories, movie scripts, comic books. I admit he’s my favorite…Fiction11 min readFiction11 min read
Published in The Writing Cooperative·Nov 5, 2021Member-onlyOn the Pleasures of Reviewing Self-Published BooksDoing it right can have a big impact — Q: What do John Grisham, Margaret Atwood, Andy Weir, and Stephen King have in common? A: Several things. All are bestselling authors. Award-winning authors. Authors who are written about and studied and among the finest authors working today. And all have, at one time or another, self-published their work. Grisham…Writing8 min readWriting8 min read
Published in Fanfare·Oct 30, 2021Member-onlyIs It True That All ‘Final Girls’ Are Virgins?The data may surprise you — “There are certain rules that one must abide by in order to successfully survive a horror movie! For instance, Number 1: You can never have sex. Sex equals death, OK?” We know these words by Randy, geek hero of Wes Craven’s Scream, as well as we know “I am not…Sex5 min readSex5 min read
Aug 24, 2021Member-onlyI Am Engaged to My Fourth WifeWhat will it mean to re-enter the institution of marriage? — Last night, I dreamt I went to a wedding again. Mine. It seemed to me I stood by the altar, beneath an arch, my feet on petals, and afterward I could not move, for the reception was barred, and plated. There was a ball and chain upon my ankle. Well…Marriage7 min readMarriage7 min read
Published in Fanfare·Dec 16, 2020Member-onlyNo, “The Crown” Doesn’t Need a Disclaimer That It’s FictionWho would believe it anyway? — God save our gracious Queen, Long live our noble Queen, God save the Queen; Send her victorious, Happy and glorious, Long to reign over us . . . And please, God, please, make her look good on Netflix. Since 2016, the streaming service has been home to The Crown, a…Television5 min readTelevision5 min read
Published in Fanfare·Dec 3, 2020Member-onlyA Trump Presidential Memoir Would Be a Good ThingEven if it’s whiny, hammy, and full of lies — Ever seen the movie The Love God? Set in swinging 1969, Don Knotts — yes, Barney Fife! — plays Abner Peacock, publisher of a soon-to-be-insolvent birdwatching magazine. Desperate for funding, Abner is tricked into partnering with smut peddler Osborn Tremain, who turns The Peacock into a, uh, gentlemen’s magazine. This…Trump4 min readTrump4 min read
