@markdoyle
Historian & writer. Britain, Ireland, empire, music. Latest book is on John Cale's Paris 1919 for 33 1/3. Next: histories of African people/music in Ireland. “Pipe-sucking radical”-Mail on Sunday. Views here are my own, not my employer's.
I am in JFK airport in NYC and the song currently playing in the food court is "Like Dylan in the Movies" by Belle and Sebastian and everyone's going about their business like this is completely normal.
It’s easy and tempting to dismiss a lot of his cabinet and other appointees as simply “bad” people. I therefore encourage you all to *please* consider that deep down, many of them are in fact complicated individuals combining multiple layers of badness into a complex neural network of awfulness.
As someone from Oklahoma who is simply named Mark, I feel like I've been cheated, namewise.
Thanks - Salt is great, but it looks like they only accept submissions from agents.
Hey writer folks, I'm looking for indie publishers who like short story collections and are open to direct (unagented) queries. Anyone have good recent experiences to share?
Wonderful - thanks.
I went to Boston College. Can confirm.
Cool, thx!
Hey writer folks, I'm looking for indie publishers who like short story collections and are open to direct (unagented) queries. Anyone have good recent experiences to share?
It's a Bee Gees in their epic/symphonic 1969-71 era kind of morning.
This interview with him is quite good. www.waterstones.com/blog/the-wat...
Absolutely. It was perfect.
Someone recently described my own prose style as "companionable," and I realized while reading Departure(s) that I lifted that directly from Barnes. (And probably Orwell.) It's a respectful and bemused kind of "are you seeing this too?" attitude toward the reader, & very effective when JB does it.
I finished Julian Barnes's final book, Departure(s), a few days ago and it moved me deeply--made me realize just how much time I've spent wandering through his thoughts with him and how (dread cliché!) I came to think of him as a kind of friend.
Good morning!
Yeah, those too. Probably especially the gasoline.
My working theory is they were all just dehydrated or suffering from allergies.
Watching mid-20th c Hollywood films, it's striking just how cranky everybody was. "Whaddaya want?" asks every barkeeper. "Yeah, what of it?" snaps anyone our hero has the temerity to ask a question of. "C'mon, outtadaway!" shouts any motorist in any situation at all.
I can't be the only one thinking of the Spanish-American War (local uprising followed by US intervention, allegedly on behalf of the rebels, followed by massive chaos and violence and ultimate US domination) at the moment, can I?
Don't know this one. Thanks!
A nice thing about music is that it typically doesn't respect borders. Spending some time with Eishan Ensemble today, who blend Persian and Western traditions into songs that are beautiful and tender and, considering *all this*, ultimately quite hopeful. eishanensemble.bandcamp.com/album/aftern...
They're playing Everybody Wants to Rule the World in this Starbucks and it's maybe a bit on the nose.
What’s everyone #reading this weekend?
#books #BookSky
For which recommendation I have, in turn, to thank @backlisted.bsky.social !
Julian Barnes' final book, Departure(s). I'm going to miss him, but the book is a fine way to leave the stage.
The bill in question: www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/114/Bi...
The AHA sent a letter to the Tennessee Senate Education Committee registering serious concerns about pending legislation mandating the teaching of the history of communism in public K–12 schools. “This is not good history. It will not provide a strong foundation for student learning.” 🗃️
A lot of people are saying this!
They love me in Ohio. Beautiful people there. Disgraceful what that state's becoming !!!
