I’ve talked a lot of smack about Vice President Joe Biden in these pages, mostly because of his mishandling of Anita Hill’s allegations against then-nominee, and later Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Specifically I’ve said that he shielded a man who was clearly unfit for the Supreme Court, and humiliated a Black woman who came […]
In the profoundly epistolary age in which our story takes place, it was usual for parents to send their boys to school with letters that mingled advice, admonishment and logistics. Over dinner that first night, some of the older boys read their parents’ letters aloud to ribald laughter. This one’s mother hopes he’ll guard against […]
Claudius is bent over a tiny desk studying Latin verb declensions. The semester at the elite Continental university won’t start for another week, but he already fears he’s behind. The door to the tiny double room opens. Claudius looks up, irritated to hear the shouting and banging in the crowded hallway. The boy standing in […]
Jon Lovett is the cutest of all the Pod Save America hosts. I wrote a long post full of political, social and even literary analysis, but really I was just trying to say: Jon Lovett is so very cute, and made even cuter by the fact that his boyfriend is the dangerously handsome Ronan Farrow. […]
This clip of Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda greeting his fans on the street is the nicest thing ever. When New Yorkers spot Miranda, they respond with near-Beatlemania levels of shock and delight. It’s as if they’re confronted with a baby unicorn or a Siamese kitten, and they’re reduced to whimpers of glee. Here’s what’s amazing: […]
My go-to grocers, Time Market and the Food Conspiracy, sell a lot of local produce, meat and prepared foods. This offers handy, tasty shortcuts for hot-weather cooking. The produce is fresher and surprisingly varied; the meat is luscious and better for you. I’ve been meaning to make bolognese sauce, but it’s frankly too hot to […]
Inglorion folds the papers, tucks them back into the little black paperback. He notes that it’s Ernst Junger’s Storm of Steel. He’s been standing next to the bookshelf all this time. He sits down on the couch, sets the book down beside him. It humbles Inglorion to see his father’s burden of sin, and to know […]
Hands trembling, Inglorion unfolds the second slip of paper and reads: He looks forward to seeing her and finds their relations gratifying, though he knows that she loathes him, and that the sight and sound and smell of him sickens her. He relishes forcing himself on her, though he doesn’t find her attractive as a […]
We’ll start a couple of days back, when I was flicking through pictures I’d taken on my phone. Mostly meals and portraits of my cat, Lyndon Johnson, being cute in various ways. I stumbled on a shot that was mysterious, compelling, and utterly foreign. I took it on Saturday at 3:42 a.m. I’m sure I […]
As summer gives way to fall, Inglorion comes to think that his father left no record of his crime and its consequence. He might not have thought of it at all. Inglorion accepts that he won’t learn what he thought he wanted to know. It wouldn’t be the first time the gods answered a different […]
Biography of Inglorion Atropos Androktasiai 