Criticism
What the Caterpillar is Not
A roughly 300 word critique of this (“The Very Grouchy Daddy”) critique of The Hungry Caterpillar: On the whole, I think I’m grateful. I know I’m amused. But mostly, I’m pleased to encounter a piece that bitingly manages to balance the gently controversial with the insightful and fun. Daniel B. Smith’s “The Very Grouchy Daddy”’s indignant... »
Riding the Devil’s Highway with Death, Desolation and Perhaps Accountability
Of course, he’ll tell you up front that half plus one died. But you need not wait for his report: the back cover will supply the same one before you read a single page. That the number of Mexicans crossing the border illegally continues to soar is an understatement. That 26 attempted to do so in... »
In a Dark Time, the Eye begins to See: A Review of Busby Berkeley’s “By a Waterfall”
“I hereby grant your rascal camera full access to my crotch!” They seem to laugh indulgently (lashes curled, eyelids a flutter). “After all, Busby-wusby, it’s for a good cause!” And what a cause, indeed. American poet Theodore Roethke once wrote that “In a dark time, the eye begins to see.” Well. I’d say the Depression counts... »
Welcome Back, Western
Written September 2007 James Mangold’s 3:10 to Yuma is about redemption, self respect, and… pistol-packing, Stetson-wearing, leather-vested bad apples and their nefarious deeds. It’s also about bringing back the western as a more hardcore and less ridiculous genre. Mangold (of Walk the Line and Girl, Interrupted fame) is not the first to use the Elmore Leonard short story... »