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- 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
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- “Some syllables are swords.” — Metaphysical poet Henry Vaughan
- “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
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- “As a cinematographer, I was always attracted to stories that have the potential to be told with as few words as possible.” — Reed Morano
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- “Ballet taught me to stay close to style and tone. Literature taught me to be concerned about the moral life.” — Joan Acocella
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- Bryce on The Books: “Nine Stories”- ‘The Laughing Man’ (J.D. Salinger)
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Tag Archives: Trotsky
Year in Review: Running my mouth in 2014
I may write some magnum opus in the next two days, you never know, but here are links to some of the things I’ve written in 2014, here and elsewhere. I have worked hard to keep my site an eclectic … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Movies, Music, Personal
Tagged Alfred Wertheimer, Anna Magnani, Austria, Carroll Baker, Christopher Hitchens, Claude Rains, Eli Wallach, Elvis Presley, Eminem, France, friends, Gena Rowlands, Germany, Harry Potter, Howard Hawks, Inherent Vice, Iran, Iranian film, Israel, Italy, Jafar Panahi, Japan, Jim Jarmusch, Joan Crawford, John Cassavetes, Juliette Binoche, Kristen Wiig, Kwik Stop, Lars von Trier, Lauren Bacall, Lester Bangs, Liv Ullmann, Lon Chaney, Love Streams, Mark Twain, Martin Scorsese, Nicolas Cage, Orpheus Descending, Palestine, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Poland, Richard Linklater, Romania, Russia, Seth Rogen, Seymour Cassel, Sudden Fear, Supernatural, Sweden, Tennessee Williams, The Beatles, The Everly Brothers, Tommy Lee Jones, Trotsky, war, year in writing, Zac Efron
14 Comments
The Books: Love, Poverty, and War: Journeys and Essays, ‘The Old Man’, by Christopher Hitchens
On the essays shelf: Love, Poverty, and War: Journeys and Essays Isaac Deutscher wrote a three-volume biography of Leon Trotsky (which I have not read: I mean, life is short, you know? I’m sure it’s amazing). Deutscher’s history is an … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged Christopher Hitchens, essays, Love Poverty and War, Stalin, Trotsky
6 Comments
Memoirs of a Revolutionary, by Victor Serge: A Chapbook
A phenomenal accomplishment, written on the run, through deportations, exile, imprisonment, and published posthumously. One of the most important books of the 20th century. Up there with Robert Conquest’s The Great Terror: A Reassessment. Victor Serge was active in Socialist … Continue reading
Today in history: November 7, 1917
Yesterday’s post was a bit prescient, considering that today is the anniversary of one of the most seismic events of the 20th century: The Russian Revolution (or, at least, that first successful power-grab.) Look at that rogue’s gallery. I love … Continue reading
Posted in On This Day
Tagged Edvard Radzinsky, George Orwell, Grey Gardens, Lenin, politics, Russia, Stalin, Trotsky, Victor Klemperer, war
9 Comments
Today In History: November 7, 1917
One of the most seismic events of the 20th century: The Russian Revolution. Look at that gathering of rogues. I love the grainy old photographs of all of them – they always look so twinkly and jolly, don’t they? It’s … Continue reading
Posted in On This Day
Tagged Edvard Radzinsky, George Orwell, Lenin, Russia, Stalin, Trotsky, Victor Klemperer, war
4 Comments
The Books: “Animal Farm: A Fairy Story” (George Orwell)
Daily Book Excerpt: Adult fiction: Animal Farm: Anniversary Edition, by George Orwell. Nothing like starting off the weekend with a little Orwell. And I am of the mind that we should never forget Why Orwell Matters … to borrow a … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged Animal Farm, fiction, George Orwell, politics, Russia, Stalin, Trotsky
13 Comments
I Wish I Had a Trotsky
I wish I had a person out there I could blame everything on. I wish I believed in an omnipresent Trotsky force who worked on me in a subliminal way, making me do all the awful things I do. I … Continue reading